- Design for Shrinkage. Generating New Opportunities and Wealth   1195 kb by    Heyning, Helena Chaya | hheyning@xs4all.nl    Short Outline Shrinkage accompanied by economic, social and spatial decline also offers new possibilities. Identifying ones opportunities is incredibly important as is sustained and multi-annual community and stakeholder engagement. Abstract The population in the Netherlands is slowly growing, however in the peripheral regions the numbers do shrink. Some of the peripheral regions experience severe demographic decrease due to ageing and dereliction. Less households, youngsters leaving for the big city never to return. And the old and less educated people lagging behind as well as the poor ones, isolated and stuck. Primary neighborhood facilities, shops and schools, close down. Often these regions also experience economic decline thus further aggravating the departure of able people who want a job. The region begets a poor image much to the distress of the local politicians; they go through a mourning process of denial first and acceptance in the end -this might take some time [3DOTS] Shrinkage accompanied by economic, social and spatial decline also offers new possibilities. Identifying ones opportunities is incredibly important as is sustained and multi-annual community and stakeholders engagement. Look at the German IBA[simplequote]s [1] Emscher Park and Sachsen-Anhalt or the new economy of slow food in Toscana, all major opportunities befitting the economic, social and spatial quality of the region. In the case study we explore the situation in one of the fastest shrinking regions in the south of The Netherlands. The region is a [simplequote]coalition of the willing[simplequote] of 7 municipalities and became a laboratory of [simplequote]how to get out of the fix of shrinkage[simplequote] regarding awareness, strategy, tools, coalitions and all kinds of [simplequote]unconventional measures[simplequote]. We will explore the resilience of the region, its major tasks and its challenges as well as the opportunities regarding spatial planning, housing, quality of life, nature and landscape. Which investments should be made to ensure the resilience of the region and its inhabitants in terms of environment, mobility and general livability? Does structure follow strategy or vice versa? Where do authorities come in (top down), where the communities and their stakeholders (bottom up) and where do they join forces? What is in it for all participants, citizens/civil society, corporate sector/business and authorities alike. [1] IBA: Internationale BauAusstellung > International Building Exhibition Keywords Shrinkage decline possibilities Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2013: Frontiers of Planning - Evolving and declining models of city planning practice   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper