The 28 fastest shrinking cities in the world

[Lightness]

With plummeting birthrates come shrinking cities and a dying civilisation. Will skyscrapers be a thing of the past, like some 21st and 20th century pyramids? Will future historians trawl through the ruins of our beloved skyscraper cities rather like archeologists in Pompeii only to find scraps of former skyscraper grandeur with the remains of its inhabitants clinging to their iPads and Louis Vuitton bags, but unwilling or unable to produce the offspring needed in order to maintain those mighty structures? Will Skyscrapercity.com be the final testament to our times?

The UN has compiled a list of the 28 cities that are on track to shrink the fastest in the world between 1990 and 2025. Russia and Eastern Europe tend to be the fastest out of the block, with South Korea and Italy following. Soon most of Europe and East Asia will suffer a similar faith.

http://www.businessinsider.com/citie...g-2012-10?op=1

From number 28 through to the fastest shrinking are:

28. Havana, Cuba



1990 Population: 2,108,000

2010 Population: 2,130,000

2025 Population: 2,094,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -0.66%


27. Rome, Italy



1990 Population: 3,450,000

2010 Population: 3,362,000

2025 Population: 3,376,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -2.14%

26. Novosibirsk, Russia



1990 Population: 1,430,000

2010 Population: 1,397,000

2025 Population: 1,398,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -2.24%

25. Milan, Italy



1990 Population: 3,063,000

2010 Population: 2,967,000

2025 Population: 2,981,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -2.68%

24. Yerevan, Armenia



1990 Population: 1,175,000

2010 Population: 1,112,000

2025 Population: 1,143,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -2.72%

23. Omsk, Russia



1990 Population: 1,144,000

2010 Population: 1,124,000

2025 Population: 1,112,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -2.80%

22. Chelyabinsk, Russia



1990 Population: 1,129,000

2010 Population: 1,094,000

2025 Population: 1,095,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -3.01%

21.Prague, Czech Republic



1990 Population: 1,212,000

2010 Population: 1,162,000

2025 Population: 1,173,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -3.22%

20. Volgograd, Russia



1990 Population: 999,000

2010 Population: 977,000

2025 Population: 964,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -3.50%

19. Bucharest, Romania



1990 Population: 2,040,000

2010 Population: 1,934,000

2025 Population: 1,963,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -3.77%

18. Voronezh, Russia



1990 Population: 880,000

2010 Population: 842,000

2025 Population: 838,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -4.77%

17. Turin, Italy



1990 Population: 1,775,000

2010 Population: 1,665,000

2025 Population: 1,680,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -5.35%

16. Ufa, Russia



1990 Population: 1,078,000

2010 Population: 1,023,000

2025 Population: 1,016,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -5.75%

15. Tbilisi, Georgia



1990 Population: 1,224,000

2010 Population: 1,120,000

2025 Population: 1,138,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -7.03%

14. Seoul, South Korea



1990 Population: 10,544,000

2010 Population: 9,773,000

2025 Population: 9,767,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -7.37%

13. Odessa, Ukraine



1990 Population: 1,092,000

2010 Population: 1,009,000

2025 Population: 1,011,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -7.42%

12. Samara, Russia



1990 Population: 1,244,000

2010 Population: 1,131,000

2025 Population: 1,119,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -8.58%

11. St. Petersburg, Russia



1990 Population: 4,989,000

2010 Population: 4,575,000

2025 Population: 4,557,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -8.66%

10. Kharkiv, Ukraine



1990 Population: 1,586,000

2010 Population: 1,453,000

2025 Population: 1,444,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -8.95%

9. Perm, Russia



1990 Population: 1,076,000

2010 Population: 982,000

2025 Population: 972,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -9.67%

8. Busan, South Korea



1990 Population: 3,778,000

2010 Population: 3,425,000

2025 Population: 3,409,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -9.77%

7. Monrovia, Liberia



1990 Population: 1,042,000

2010 Population: 827,000

2025 Population: 932,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -10.56%

6. Saratov, Russia



1990 Population: 901,000

2010 Population: 822,000

2025 Population: 797,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -11.54%

5. Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia



1990 Population: 1,420,000

2010 Population: 1,267,000

2025 Population: 1,253,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -11.76%

4. Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine



1990 Population: 873,000

2010 Population: 775,000

2025 Population: 758,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -13.17%

3. Donetsk, Ukraine



1990 Population: 1,097,000

2010 Population: 966,000

2025 Population: 941,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -14.22%

2. Budapest, Hungary



1990 Population: 2,005,000

2010 Population: 1,706,000

2025 Population: 1,711,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -14.66%

And the most shrinking city is ... drumroll ...:

1. Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine



1990 Population: 1,162,000

2010 Population: 1,004,000

2025 Population: 967,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -16.78%

[Ultra84]

I don't know what's the situation with the other cities, but the datas about Budapest are misleading. According to 2011 Census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million due to suburbanisation. The Budapest Commuter Area is a home of 3.3 million people. So Budapest's offical population shrunk inside the city borders in the past 20 years, but the metro's population (with the city) likely showed an increase. Nowadays the population increases inside the city borders again, because some previously to the suburbs moved people realised, that it's better for them to live near to the city center.

[Sarcasticity]

Where's Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinatti and those other US cities 'cause I thought they would litter this list. But its dominantly European. I highly doubt you'd call Seoul shrinking in any sense

[Suburbanist]

I can speak for both Italian cities mentioned there: what has happened, in a nutshell, is a sharp reduction of the average size of households, meaning that even if there aren't many abandoned properties, there are many more one-person households out there.

[Woonsocket54]

Originally Posted by Lightness

Will Skyscrapercity.com be the final testament to our times?

I sure hope so. I always said that history would be written by the trolls.

[sebvill]

Some of those cities are loosing population against its own Metro area.

[Kriativus]

Originally Posted by sebvill

Some of those cities are loosing population against its own Metro area.

You're quite right.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

is anyone having sex in the former soviet union? jesus

[Lightness]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

is anyone having sex in the former soviet union? jesus

I think Europeans are so welfare-pampered that they're unable to get a hard-on. It's all the more weird since the women in Italy and Eastern Europe are so gorgeous that I seem to have a constant boner when visiting there.

[Woonsocket54]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

is anyone having sex in the former soviet union? jesus

They're having lots of babies in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan!!!!

[alekssa1]

Originally Posted by Lightness

11. St. Petersburg, Russia



1990 Population: 4,989,000

2010 Population: 4,575,000

2025 Population: 4,557,000

Growth from 1990 to 2025: -8.66%

It looks like for 2010 they used estimation made in early 2000s. In fact:

2010 Population (Jan, 1): 4,860,700

2012 Population (Jan, 1): 4,953,200

2012 Population (October): 5,000,000+

[SydneyCity]

I wonder if this is actual population shrinkage or just due to suburbanisation?

[Jonesy55]

Originally Posted by Lightness

I think Europeans are so welfare-pampered that they're unable to get a hard-on. It's all the more weird since the women in Italy and Eastern Europe are so gorgeous that I seem to have a constant boner when visiting there.

There are numerous European states with higher fertility rates than Australia, among them some of those with the strongest welfare systems, while the lowest fertility countries in Eastern Europe have much weaker welfare systems than your own country.

[Chrissib]

Some figures refer to just the cities, others to metro areas. Useless list.

[Svartmetall]

Originally Posted by Jonesy55

There are numerous European states with higher fertility rates than Australia, among them some of those with the strongest welfare systems, while the lowest fertility countries in Eastern Europe have much weaker welfare systems than your own country.

Exactly. It wouldn't be the first time that there were spurious correlations attempted to be drawn between welfare and demographic collapse. Seoul in particular has been in charge of conservatives for a fair old while and Korea as a whole is very much a non-welfare state compared to Australia not to mention Singapore which is very far from a welfare state and has a complete demographic disaster in its native population with one of the lowest rates of fertility in the world.

If anything it is a failure of the government to help balance work-life and cost of living to ensure that successful workers can still afford or have the time and means to have a family.

[Galro]

Originally Posted by Lightness

I think Europeans are so welfare-pampered that they're unable to get a hard-on. It's all the more weird since the women in Italy and Eastern Europe are so gorgeous that I seem to have a constant boner when visiting there.

I don't see your argument. Fucking is pretty much the only fun thing we can do here. Wouldn't it be natural that this depressive living resulted in more fucking, not less? The usual "hobby" here is binge drinking and one night stands.

[-Corey-]

Where is Detroit??

[GENIUS LOCI]

Originally Posted by Suburbanist

I can speak for both Italian cities mentioned there: what has happened, in a nutshell, is a sharp reduction of the average size of households, meaning that even if there aren't many abandoned properties, there are many more one-person households out there.

The italian cities mentioned are three (Rome, Milan and Turin)

Anyway those data are totally inaccurate: they don't express th population of the municipality and are not the Province population

They're totally random data

Anyway the growth for Milan and Rome is positive: about +1% each year since 2000

[GENIUS LOCI]

Originally Posted by Chrissib

Some figures refer to just the cities, others to metro areas. Useless list.

It is totally inaccurate: the mentioned Italian cities are increasing their population, over all Milan and Rome

The data are not refferred to municipality or province. You might obtain those numbers counting the main municipality and part of their metro areas.
And in any case they're increasing, not decreasing

I assume it's the same even for the other cities mentioned in the list

[the spliff fairy]

This is suburbanisation in many of the cities, not shrinkage. By rights London would have 'shrunk' far more than any of these, from a peak of 9 million in 1939, down to 6.5 million in the 1980s, then back up again to 8.2 million today. In reality the conurbation has grown to 14 million in that time due to the growth of the suburbs.