The Joint Research Centre regularly publishes policy briefs on different topics to support evidence-based policymaking. The Shrinking Cities is a part of the The Future of Cities series. 

Throughout history, cities, influenced by various historical, social, economic, demographic or political factors, have gone through cycles of growth and decline. While the world population has been increasing and is continuing to concentrate in cities, the idea that all cities are continuously growing is false. 

Between 2001 and 2011, more than a quarter of the 610 Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) in the EU shrank, mostly in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the south of Italy, accounting for about 48 million people (18% of the 2011 EU-27 population). This shrinkage continued between 2011 and 2018, affecting more than 23% of FUAs, particularly in Spain and Eastern Europe.

The Shrinking Cities policy brief provides insight into why the shrinking is happening, what are the effects and what is the way forward.