Decline

Chinese Cities Build Big Despite Shedding Residents
More than 900 Chinese cities are continuing to plan for growth even as their populations shrink.

Detroit Still Has More to Worry From Decline Than Gentrification
For every feel-good story about urban revitalization, or more problematic tale of gentrification, the experience in much of Detroit has more to do with decline.

Rust Belt Cities Shouldn't Demolish Their Way to the Future
In a piece for CityLab, Richey Pipparinen argues that trigger-happy city officials need to slow down their push to demolish homes.

Watch the Documentary 'Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City'
In May, the documentary film "Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City" was made available in full on YouTube.

Is Mismanagement the Cause of Legacy Cities' Decline?
One common argument against attempts to control sprawl near declining cities is that the problem is the fault of mismanaged city government.
Cleveland Caught Between Dreams of Revival and Reality of its Woes
Are the grand plans for reviving Cleveland put forth by city leaders - and hyped by the architecture critic at the city's main newspaper - fantasies masking the city's elemental problems or goals worth pursuing?
Want to Avoid Detroit's Fate? Diversify Your Economy
"Nearly all the rich world’s industrial cities fell on hard times between 1950 and 1980," says The Economist. Why did some recover while others failed? A new paper argues that skilled workers and a diverse economy are key to overcoming adversity.
Borscht Belt Meets Rust Belt
The "Borscht Belt", a once-thriving vacation getaway in upstate New York, has entered a serious decline. Legalizing gambling in the region is being discussed as a cure-all to revitalize the Catskills, but Citiography thinks its too late.
Youthful, Creative Detroit Crawls Out of Shadow of Decline
Young creative people are moving to Detroit, launching new businesses and civic ventures that are creating a new identity for a city plagued by associations with decline.
The Right Interventions to Restore Confidence in Weak Markets
Housing affordability is too often seen as the way to stabilize and revitalize weak markets. Neighborhood planning consultants Charles Buki and Elizabeth Humphrey Schilling argue that interventions in weak markets must encourage investment by improving market confidence.
Notes on Structural Change: Redefining the Problem of Weak Markets
The foreclosure crisis spreading across America has burdened cities and neighborhoods with value-draining vacancies and abandoned properties. To counteract the economic havoc they've caused, planners and policymakers must focus on restoring confidence in the market, according to neighborhood planning consultants Charles Buki and Elizabeth Humphrey Schilling.
Driving Less and Flying Less, Too
Figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation show that the number of nationwide air passengers has declined from the previous year.
Learning from my suburb
For nearly all of my adult life, I have lived in small towns or urban neighborhoods. But for the past two years, I have lived in sprawl. When I moved to Jacksonville two years ago, I moved to Mandarin, a basically suburban neighborhood about nine miles from downtown. As I looked for apartments in 2006, I noticed that in many ways, Mandarin is typical sprawl: our major commercial street (San Jose Boulevard) is as many as eight lanes in some places, and even most apartments are separated from San Jose’s commerce. [See http://atlantaphotos.fotopic.net/c872477.html for my photos of Mandarin and other Jacksonville neighborhoods.] I thought Mandarin would be a typical suburb: homogenously white and upper-middle class.
Youngstown Plans For A Smaller Future
After years of decline, Youngstown Ohio has an aggressive plan to bulldoze abandoned properties and pare back on services and infrastructure.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Brookings
City of White Salmon
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland