Cities in highly industrialised countries have grown over time, yet the phenomenon of shrinking cities occurs in many regions. Urban shrinkage has various impacts on urban ecology, which can be observed on urban brownfield sites in particular. The integration of brownfield sites with sustainable urban development must be managed, and this presents new challenges for urban planners. The introductory chapters of this publication give an overview of urban ecology concepts and how research in this field is affected by urban shrinkage. The following sections are concerned with botanical aspects of shrinking cities, perception of nature in the context of shrinkage and discussion of aspects of urban planning with reference to several regional examples. The book concludes with an examination of urban shrinkage during the life cycles of city archetypes.
Wilfried Endlicher/Marcel Langner/Markus Hesse/Harald A. Mieg/Ingo Kowarik/Patrick Hostert/Elmar Kulke/Gunnar N#tzmann/Marlies Schulz/Elke van der Meer/Gerd Wessolek/Claudia Wiegand: Urban Ecology - Definitions and Concepts - Miriam Fritsche/Marcel Langner/Hadia K#hler/Anke Ruckes/Daniela Sch#ler/Betka Zakirova/Katharina Appel/Valeska Contardo-Jara/Ellen Diermayer/Mathias Hofmann/Christoph Kulemeyer/Peter Meffert/Janneke Westermann: Shrinking Cities - A New Challenge for Research in Urban Ecology - Ingeborg Schinninger/Rudolf Maier: Urban Brownfields as Temporary Habitats: Strategies of Plants for Survival in a Changing Environment - Peter Werner: Urban Form and Biodiversity - Tobias Chilla: Shrinking Cities - New Urban 'Socio-Natures'? - Uwe Altrock: Current Trends in Urban Regeneration and Restructuring in Germany and their Effects on Sustainability - Matthias Bernt: Six Years of Stadtumbau Ost ('Urban Restructuring East') Programme: Difficulties of Dealing with Shrinking Cities - Christiane Westphal: Density as a Tool to Guide Urban Shrinkage Concerning Public Works? - Stefanie R##ler: Shrinking Cities - Opportunities and Challenges for Urban Green Space Planning: Experiences at the Large Housing Estate of Leipzig-Gr#nau - Andre Mulder: Trams and the Regeneration of Brownfield Sites - Susan C. Wessman: Urban Shrinking in the Life Cycles of City Archetypes.