From Great Britain, Belgium, Finland and Italy to Russia, Kazakhstan and China, cities are shrinking--while urban-planning debates focus on the growth of the megalopolis, many of the worldís existing population centers are watching their citizens walk away. Between globalization, deindustrialization, suburbanization, the transition to post-Socialism, high unemployment and, in some cases, wider national population losses, the phenomenon is growing. Shrinking Cities Volume 1: International Research, a publication of the Germany-based Shrinking Cities initiative, examines this phenomenon's causes and dynamics on an international level for the first time, exploring examples including Manchester and Liverpool, Detroit, Russiaís Ivanovo, and Germanyís Halle and Leipzig. Each site represents a specific issue: in Detroit, the consequences of suburbanization; in Manchester and Liverpool, deindustrialization; in Ivanovo, post-socialism; while in the Halle and Leipzig region several of these factors come together. Shrinking Cities: Volume I compares living conditions and cultural change in shrinking urban regions, and offers, along with information, a range of artistic intercessions commissioned to help sensitize the public to this global phenomenon which poses a completely new social challenge and creates the opportunity for cultural renewal.