Assistant Professor Urban Geography at the University of Amsterdam. Recently my research mainly focuses on causes and consequences of urban and regional growth and decline and possible implications of this for urban and regional policies and strategies (e.g. shrinking cities, creative cities). I have also published about amongst others polycentric urban regions, 'post-suburbia' and sustainable urban and regional development.
Shrinking cities and degrowth thinking share their parting from the dominant growth paradigm and ... more Shrinking cities and degrowth thinking share their parting from the dominant growth paradigm and seem to have much to offer to each other. Could degrowth be an inspiring and guiding paradigm for the sustainable development of shrinking cities? Could shrinking cities be suitable testing grounds to apply degrowth's radical sustainability principles in practice? These and other questions regarding the connections between urban shrinkage, degrowth, and sustainability have hardly been addressed in the scientific literature thus far. This thematic issue brings together novel empirical contributions, taking stock of first attempts to connect degrowth to urban shrinkage, exploring in how far this potential unfolds in practice and what obstacles these attempts face, with a focus on the field of urban planning. In this editorial, we discuss the connections between shrinking cities, degrowth, and sustainability identified in the empirical studies and the dialogues that span across these contributions. We conclude with an updated research agenda for this field of study.
... Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House. Kayden... more ... Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House. Kayden, JS (2000) Privately Owned Public Space: The New York City Experience. New York: Wiley. ... 1–10. New York: Chapman and Hall. Spirn, AW (1984) The Granite Garden. ...
KNAW Narcis. Back to search results. Publication Almere moet niet eeuwig willen groeien (2003). .... more KNAW Narcis. Back to search results. Publication Almere moet niet eeuwig willen groeien (2003). ... Title, Almere moet niet eeuwig willen groeien. Published in, Geografie, Vol. 12, No. 10, p.20-22. Author, Bontje, MA. Date, 2003. Type, article. Publication, http://dare.uva.nl/record/144867 ...
KNAW Narcis. Back to search results. Publication Amsterdam, creative knowledge city? The debate o... more KNAW Narcis. Back to search results. Publication Amsterdam, creative knowledge city? The debate on the economic future... (2006). ... Title, Amsterdam, creative knowledge city? The debate on the economic future of Amsterdam and its region. ...
Shrinking cities and degrowth thinking share their parting from the dominant growth paradigm and ... more Shrinking cities and degrowth thinking share their parting from the dominant growth paradigm and seem to have much to offer to each other. Could degrowth be an inspiring and guiding paradigm for the sustainable development of shrinking cities? Could shrinking cities be suitable testing grounds to apply degrowth's radical sustainability principles in practice? These and other questions regarding the connections between urban shrinkage, degrowth, and sustainability have hardly been addressed in the scientific literature thus far. This thematic issue brings together novel empirical contributions, taking stock of first attempts to connect degrowth to urban shrinkage, exploring in how far this potential unfolds in practice and what obstacles these attempts face, with a focus on the field of urban planning. In this editorial, we discuss the connections between shrinking cities, degrowth, and sustainability identified in the empirical studies and the dialogues that span across these contributions. We conclude with an updated research agenda for this field of study.
... Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House. Kayden... more ... Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House. Kayden, JS (2000) Privately Owned Public Space: The New York City Experience. New York: Wiley. ... 1–10. New York: Chapman and Hall. Spirn, AW (1984) The Granite Garden. ...
KNAW Narcis. Back to search results. Publication Almere moet niet eeuwig willen groeien (2003). .... more KNAW Narcis. Back to search results. Publication Almere moet niet eeuwig willen groeien (2003). ... Title, Almere moet niet eeuwig willen groeien. Published in, Geografie, Vol. 12, No. 10, p.20-22. Author, Bontje, MA. Date, 2003. Type, article. Publication, http://dare.uva.nl/record/144867 ...
KNAW Narcis. Back to search results. Publication Amsterdam, creative knowledge city? The debate o... more KNAW Narcis. Back to search results. Publication Amsterdam, creative knowledge city? The debate on the economic future... (2006). ... Title, Amsterdam, creative knowledge city? The debate on the economic future of Amsterdam and its region. ...
This chapter reports on an international debate on urban shrinkage by bringing together several n... more This chapter reports on an international debate on urban shrinkage by bringing together several national strands of research across the West. It conceptualizes “urban shrinkage” as a specific trajectory of cities, with population loss being its main indicator. Firstly, the chapter deals with bridging the core national debates, before aligning these with local concerns. It then turns to a comparison of governance responses across wider Europe and the USA, highlighting a huge potential for eliciting cross-national knowledge, which needs to be exploited. The chapter aims to augment and sharpen the international research agenda on urban shrinkage by critically reflecting upon governance and policy. Last but not least, this chapter seeks to align the research on urban shrinkage with general challenges and strands of research in urban and regional studies, human geography, and spatial planning by linking it with other debates in urban studies, e.g. urban inequalities, economic resilience, and resource efficiency.
The 3S RECIPE data collection provides the research and policy audience with clear, tried, and te... more The 3S RECIPE data collection provides the research and policy audience with clear, tried, and tested city examples of how to 1) tackle the key socio-economic causes of urban shrinkage, 2) future-proof sustainability actions in urban redevelopment and regeneration, and 3) enhance the role of long-term strategic planning. The core data collection is comprised of 22 original research outputs in the form of policy briefs, revealing a series of smart shrinkage solutions implemented during the period 2000-2020 in 7 cities across Europe, including Le Havre (France), Maastricht (Netherlands), Łódź (Poland), Porto (Portugal), Stoke-on-Trent (UK), Timișoara (Romania), and Zonguldak (Turkey). Research findings are presented in the form of textual narrative with maps, photographs, figures, charts, and tables in PDF format. In addition, this data collection contains the project's key background materials, detailed workshop notes, work package reports, and links to the original creative artwork produced to make the research outputs publically accessible in the form of short video films, hosted by YouTube as well as the 3S RECIPE project's website.
Smart Shrinkage Solutions - Fostering Resilient Cities in Inner Peripheries of Europe (3S RECIPE) offers the best practice and most feasible solutions to the problem of urban shrinkage - a continuous population decline affecting more than 1,500 cities all over Europe. By learning from the experience of the cities that once were on the edge of an abyss but have bounced back to life, by sharing the key ingredients of their success across Europe and beyond, this project enables as many shrinking cities as possible to adapt, transform, and thrive in the face of continuously and often dramatically changing circumstances.
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Smart Shrinkage Solutions - Fostering Resilient Cities in Inner Peripheries of Europe (3S RECIPE) offers the best practice and most feasible solutions to the problem of urban shrinkage - a continuous population decline affecting more than 1,500 cities all over Europe. By learning from the experience of the cities that once were on the edge of an abyss but have bounced back to life, by sharing the key ingredients of their success across Europe and beyond, this project enables as many shrinking cities as possible to adapt, transform, and thrive in the face of continuously and often dramatically changing circumstances.