Understanding the Relationship between Urban Form and Urban Shrinkage among Medium-Sized Cities in Poland and Its Implications for Sustainability

Ewa Szymczyk (), Mateusz Bukowski and Jeffrey Raymond Kenworthy ()
Additional contact information
Ewa Szymczyk: Chair of Urbanism and City Structure Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska 24, 31-155 Kraków, Poland
Mateusz Bukowski: Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering of AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Jeffrey Raymond Kenworthy: Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-34

Abstract: Understanding the relationship between urban form and urban shrinkage is crucial for developing sustainable urban policies, particularly in medium-sized cities facing demographic and economic challenges. This study investigates the complex relationship between urban form and urban shrinkage in medium-sized Polish cities (population of 20,000 to 100,000), highlighting the implications for sustainability. Utilising a comprehensive multi-factor approach, it analyses the shrinkage and growth trends over 15 years (2006–2021) by establishing a shrinkage/growth score based on social, demographic, and economic factors for each city. It examines spatial aspects, particularly urban form compactness and population density, using Corine Land Cover (CLC) spatial data, making the methodology applicable to urban areas across Europe. The findings reveal no significant overall correlation between urban compactness and shrinkage/growth score across all cities. However, a positive correlation exists within “urban municipalities”, indicating that less compact urban areas tend to experience more shrinkage. Additionally, a temporary negative correlation between population density and shrinkage/growth score was observed from 2006 to 2016, which shifted to a positive trend in “urban municipalities” from 2016 to 2021. These results highlight urban shrinkage’s complex and dynamic nature and its potential ties to urban form. The study concludes with recommendations for urban policymakers and planners regarding compact and dense urban strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of shrinkage and enhance urban resilience and sustainability. While the trends change, the study highlights the need for further analysis of these relationships.

Keywords: Polish medium-sized cities; urban shrinkage; urban form; compactness; spatial measures; urban population density; CORINE Land Cover (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7030/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7030/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7030-:d:1457629

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().