| Abstract [eng] |
A significant percentage of cities in the developed world are now shrinking. The phenomenon of shrinking cities is most apparent in the Eastern and Central regions of Europe. Lithuania is not an exception to the aforementioned trend, as all but three cities in Lithuania are shrinking. However, even though the process of shrinking is widespread in the country, the literature on the issue is quite limited. Due to the fact that shrinkage has become the norm rather than exception, it’s important to discuss the process, as shrinking cities face a unique set of sustainable development challenges. The aim of this paper is to identify the main sustainable development challenges of the shrinking city of Jonava which lost 18.3% of its population in the period between 2001 and 2016. These challenges serve as a basis for formulating potential sustainable development pathways for the shrinking city. As Lithuanian scholarly sources discussing the issue are scarce, most of the analysis is carried out based on foreign sources, particularly those focusing on the interaction between sustainable development and shrinking cities in Europe. Various strategies and approaches dealing with issues that shrinking cities face have been explored and applied while considering Jonava’s current position in terms of its sustainable development. The aim of the paper is achieved via four tasks: 1. Analysing the phenomenon of shrinking cities and the main challenges to their sustainable development. 2. Analysing the concept of sustainable development in the context of shrinking cities. 3. Identifying main sustainable development challenges and solutions in Jonava based on the quantitative statistical analysis of various sustainable development indicators in the period between 2011 and 2016, calculation of sustainability index, qualitative overview of documents pertaining to sustainable development, and an interview of experts in charge of the city’s development. 4. Formulating suggestions and future directions for the shrinking city of Jonava based on the aforementioned research. The findings of the paper indicate that the main factors for shrinkage in Jonava are international and national migration. The main challenges to the social aspect of sustainable development of the shrinking city of Jonava are: increasing crime rates, increasing doctor visits per capita, decreasing life expectancy, decrease in police force, and unbalanced demographic structure. The economic aspect of sustainable development indicates the following challenges: very low foreign direct investments in comparison to the national average, as well as salaries which are lower than the national average. In addition, while general unemployment is decreasing, it is still higher than the national average. The ecologic aspect of sustainable development challenges showcases increased water consumption for household needs despite decreasing population, and a decrease in waste recycling, which is lower than the national average. The sustainability index calculation indicates that the social aspect of sustainable development is the most problematic area of the three. The results of the document analysis showcase the fact that Jonava is familiar with the issue of shrinkage and is applying modern strategies in attempting to control it by focusing on improving the quality of life for the local population. The results of the expert interview reveal that Jonava is competing over investments and workers with Kauno LEZ, which can condition Jonava’s shrinkage in the future. Therefore, experts suggest a “sleeping” city strategy for Jonava – a safe, clean, quiet environment where people commute to live or spend their time after work. Based on the research carried out in the paper, the author suggests emphasising the social aspect of sustainable development and trying to improve social sustainability indicators in order to achieve balanced sustainable development for the city. The author also suggests improving the infrastructure of public services. |
