Flavio Besana (p), Kai Böhme

see extended abstract

Shrinking cities have been a growing topic of investigation for researchers and practitioners in the US, EU and beyond in the past two decades. The concept of shrinking city has been defined from different perspectives, and research agendas have been framed in order to deepen the knowledge around a broadening circumstance (Hollander et al., 2009).
Despite the growing attention which has expanded the volume of research and its results, urban shrinkage has been having a hard time in climbing the priority list of policy makers at supra-local level (Bernt et al., 2014). Shrinkage events typically involve much more than just the demographic trend of population loss; causes and effects are intertwined around social, economic and environmental factors amongst others.
Despite its efforts, it seems that European policy making has not yet answered the growing challenges of local population decline with a strategic focus and structured approach.
The paper supports with quantitative evidence the concern for shrinkage and describes its patterns and incidence across EU countries from 1991 to present. Moreover, an original method has allowed to estimate prospective pathways of currently shrinking cities and unveils blind areas of future shrinkage, thereby covering a 1991-2050 time horizon.
The European Union is concerned and, in consideration of its means and resources, it has the opportunity to be the leading actor in steering shrinkage processes towards new equilibria; place-sensitive approaches are a key ingredient and these need a growing body of information and methods to fuel successful response strategies.

Andreas Diemer (p)

Please see full (draft) paper

Carolin Ioramashvili (p)

Falling labour shares are a concern for economists in many developed and emerging economies around the world. This trend has been linked to growing industry concentration, as growing market power allows firms to charge mark-ups over marginal cost. I show that both of these trends also characterise the economy in Great Britain over the last two decades. Moreover, businesses that are dominant in their industry are predominantly located in London and the South East, as well as other urban areas. I estimate that the labour share would be around 1 percentage point higher in 2014, had industry concentration not increased since 2002 The difference is larger in urban than in predominantly rural areas.

Efthymios Spyridon Georgiou (p), Konstantinos Boumpourekas

This project refers to the development of a traditional settlement area in Siatista, Greece. The subject of scientific work has a dual purpose, which is thoroughly analyzed in the main body with clarity. Firstly, the main aim is to promote and preserve the cultural heritage.
The Siatista area has an appropriate historical and mountainous background, which must be designed with the general and specific objectives for tourism development, agriculture and environmental awareness. On the other hand, the project analyzes the key role of voluntary thinking in the development of the area. In order to overcome the effects of the economic crisis of the past decade not only in Siatista, but also in many parts of Greece.
Moreover, in modern society, young people are adopting a more urbanized way of life so they are leaving small villages, choosing to go to the big cities or abroad in order to chase better opportunities on employment and education.
However, the analysis of the project is an optimistic example of the return of a couple who was actively involved in Siatista and volunteering, promoting and protecting Siatista's cultural heritage. This is their example followed by other Siatista residents.
As a result, a folklore museum was created which is the center of the cultural events of the traditional settlement. The couple's willingness and involvement of residents in the group increases tourism and collaboration with schools and other organizations. Today, many children are actively involved in museum activities and know the role and responsibility of preserving traditional architecture, historical past and important rural areas. Not only this is an alternative way of preserving the past, but is also the happiness and inspiration to be part of the mosaic of history, present and future in the place where they come from.