looking for articles on the depopulation of US cities
February 5, 2013 7:56 AM

I'm looking for articles on the depopulation of US cities, I've seen some on detroit & chicago and the renewal efforts for sustainability, but am unable to find them through google, and help would suffice!
posted by xcasex to Society & Culture (5 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
The US Census has tracts on these kinds of trends although they can be a bit dry. We used them in a class I took in college called The Geography of Urban Neighborhoods. (Freaking state of California Ethnic Diversity Clusters....)
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:57 AM on February 5, 2013


"Shrinking cities" is the term that's often used. So you could try Googing that. Here's what you get when you do a search for the term on the Atlantic Cities website.
posted by mcmile at 8:42 AM on February 5, 2013


St. Louis.
posted by flug at 9:39 AM on February 5, 2013


You might also try using search terms like "urban blight" or "urban sprawl." These words are a lot more loaded than "depopulation," but might turn up more results. Some of these I found by searching "history of urban sprawl" or "sprawl and depopulation."

This looks to be a pretty good (and relatively brief) overview of the history of sprawl.

Here's a Slate article--a review of a book which takes a slightly different perspective.

Sprawl in Leipzig, a city in Germany.

From Motor City to Motor Metropolis: How the Automobile Industry Reshaped Urban America

Another (more critical) review of the book from the Slate article.

Are you looking for scholarly articles? Is there any specific aspect of this phenomenon you're interested in, or are you just looking for a broad overview? Hope this helps get you started!
posted by a.steele at 9:41 AM on February 5, 2013


The Atlantic Cities might be a good place to do some searching. You can browse by city or theme or search. For example, a search for depopulation turned up "In Search of a Cure for Zombie Neighborhoods." The phrase shrinking cities gets you a whole slew of interesting stuff.

Many of the articles draw on reports which may or may not be available for free.
posted by bluedaisy at 6:11 PM on February 5, 2013


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