Negative Effects of Shrinking Cities and the Dilemma of Their Sustainable Development

Abstract: Urban shrinkage has become a global phenomenon, occurring all over the world. Faced with the reduction of population, shrinking cities will continue to lose the vitality of development, and it is difficult to achieve the past glory. How to realize the sustainable development of shrinking cities will become an important issue, which deserves our in-depth study. We will apply big data to analyze the spatiotemporal changes of the population of shrinking cities. Urban shrinkage will lead to a series of chain reactions, reflected in all aspects of social and economic development. Shops are closing down constantly, and there are very few visitors to the commercial streets at night. Industrial enterprises have moved to other places, and urban employment and financial income have declined sharply. The city's economy will face the risk of collapse. Consequently, the lack of maintenance of infrastructure and public service facilities, the decrease of residents' income and the decrease of residents' happiness lead to the lack of cohesion in urban society. The sustainable development of shrinking cities will face great difficulties. Therefore, we must be aware of the seriousness of this problem and take necessary actions to reduce the negative effects of urban shrinkage.

Key words: Shrinking cities, sustainable development, society, economy