For several decades, urban shrinkage has been a common pathway of demographic development for many large cities throughout Europe. Although this process began after the collapse of communism in most countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), it should not be interpreted merely as a consequence of systemic transformation. This process was accompanied by the rapid withdrawal of state involvement in the housing sector, which resulted in an escalation of the housing shortage inherited from the socialist period. Thus, the aim of this article is to present a perspective of shrinking in CEE, which is often marginalized in the global discourse on shrinkage. The main purpose is to investigate the relationship between housing and demographic changes after the collapse of communism and answer the following question: Is the old housing structure a positive legacy, a patrimonial inheritance, or a burden in the context of demographic decline? Methodologically, this paper is a case study illustrating the transformations of housing within the context of the historical and spatial demographic development in the selected city. We focus our attention on the example of Łódź, Poland, which reflects the entire CEE spectrum of problems associated with shrinkage while presenting some particularities. However, the shrinkage phenomenon in Łódź also presents an opportunity for improving future housing options. Within a wider context, this example can be considered a lens for the very complex demographic and housing situation of CEE cities. This case shows that legacies of the communist regime influence the relationship between the demographic decline and housing situation and that even a city with a high range in the urban network can be affected by a severe decline.

Na okładce wykorzystano mapy opracowane przez Autora Projekt został sfinansowany ze środków Narodowego Centrum Nauki przyznanych na podstawie decyzji numer DEC-2011/03/N/HS4/03145

The paper contributes to the discussion concerning methods used to analyse urban shrinkage and points to the need to comprehensively examine the reasons, course and effects of the process by expanding the research perspective with morphological aspect. In accordance with theoretical assumption adopted for this paper, morphology acts as an element that complements demographic changes in the identification of urban shrinkage since the observed quantitative and qualitative changes in the urban fabric are indicative of the direction of economic and social transformations in cities. The paper aims at identifying the course of shrinkage in a selected post-socialist CEE city and discusses demographic and morphological ways of identifying the process. Łódź (Poland), one of the largest and the fastest shrinking cities in the CEE region was selected for the case study. The paper provides intra-urban scale analyses conducted at the level of individual neighbourhoods taking account of quantitative and qualitative changes in demographic and morphological structure of the city. The picture of changes at a neighbourhood level has helped identify spatial traits of urban shrinkage experienced throughout the city. Spatial scope of the area that undergoes demographic and morphological shrinkage was confronted with the crisis area intended for regeneration within the policy pursued by the city.

The purpose of this article is the identification of changes to urban and tourism space due to the revitalization of the industrial wastelands in selected cities of Western Europe. The first section presents problematic aspects of this issue whereas the second constitutes empirical research on two cities: Lyon and Manchester. Typical characteristics of these cities include their differing ‘tourism biographies’ as well as their diverse spatial and functional structures. Furthermore, different ways of implementing the revitalization of central area former industrial land have been followed which have been extremely significant in forming the new tourism space in both cities.

The Nowe Centrum Łodzi project that was completed in 2007 in Łódź, Poland is one of the biggest contemporary large-scale urban (re)development projects in Europe and the largest project of this type in Central Europe. The principal goals of the mega-project in question include the regeneration of degraded post-industrial and post-railway land in the city centre of Łódź and the enhancement of competitiveness and the metropolitan position of the city. The authors seek to identify spatial and functional changes at a mezo-scale, i.e. in the so-called immediate neighbourhood of the urban regeneration megaproject (URMP), which have accompanied the implementation of the Nowe Centrum Łodzi project over the years 2013–2016. The other aim was to classify urban areas neighbouring the URMP based on features of spatial and functional transformation identified in these areas. The studies allowed the researchers to identify three categories of urban area in the immediate neighbourhood of the URMP which revealed differences in spatial and functional transformations. We indicated that the transformation of the immediate neighbourhood of the URMP involved not only the local authorities responsible for the overall improvement of the quality of public space but also other users, inter alia, residents, local urban activists, the business community, public institutions, and NGOs, that in most cases complemented efforts initiated by the Municipality. From the methodological point of view the authors use a case study including desk research, an urban planning inventory, and direct observation.