Shrinking cities are a phenomenon which can be seen all over the world and which is recognized by different world organizations. We can find several different causes and consequences of shrinking cities, and they are mostly tied to economic changes or sudden demographic decline. This master’s thesis focuses on the administration and planning of shrinking cities, since fast changes in these cities present a big challenge to city planners, companies, local people and the whole region. Because the topic of shrinking cities is very broad, this work focuses on housing vacancy and related problems related, which have been studied on the example of two eastern German cities – Leipzig and Halle (Saale). Through interviews, fieldwork, literature study and the analysis of different policies and strategies this master’s thesis identifies key actors and proposes guidelines for future problem solving in shrinking cities, with the emphasis on problems connected to housing vacancy. Since during our study we realised that the key often lies in the successful involvement of different actors, the thesis presents a model for successful cooperation between different stakeholders, as problems can often only be solved through successful involvement of these key actors. More precisely, the model consists of three layers – governance, social capital and local participation. Each layer includes its own actors, but the important aspects are communication, integration and trust building between layers, within each specific layer and among the same actors in different cities.
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