Honey, I Shrunk the City: Bold Ideas for Declining Urban Centers
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For years, urban planning has been all about growth. But in recent years, with the decline of American manufacturing, a whole new school of thought has emerged. It's all about shrinking, not growing. As more and more metropolitan areas lose populations and healthy tax bases, guest host Sara Terry looks at how are cities coming up with new solutions to control the change, instead of simply trying to cope with it. Also, the UN approves tough sanctions for North Korea. On Reporter's Notebook, it's the Lakers and the Magic, the Red Sox and the Yankees, and -- don’t forget, the Redwings and the Penguins.
Banner image: St. Etienne, France. Photo: Emmanuèle Cunningham-Sabot, Shrinking Cities International Network
Making News
UN Approves Tough New Sanctions for North Korea ()
The United Nations Security Council today unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea for its recent nuclear test. Colum Lynch is UN correspondent for the Washington Post.
Guests:
- Colum Lynch: UN Correspondent, Washington Post
Main Topic
Redefining the Urban Landscape ()
A new movement for grappling with dying cities has emerged in recent years. Instead of just coping with the wreckage of decline, it focuses on intentionally shrinking cityscapes. Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors, has seen its population shrink from 200,000 in 1965 to just 110,000 people. Now it's taking charge of the urban landscape before it falls into ruins. It's created a land bank that allows government officials to act quickly on abandoned properties and to turn some of the land over to Mother Nature. What lessons can be learned from Flint? Can urban decline be turned into a new kind of urban renewal? Instead of planned shrinkage, should cities be planning for new kinds of growth?
Guests:
- Dan Kildee: Chairman, Genesee County Land Bank
- Randal O’Toole: Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
- Sam Staley: Director of Urban Growth Policy, Reason Foundation
- Karina Pallagst: Member, Shrinking Cities International Research Network
- Steven Pedigo: Director of Research, Creative Class Group
Links:
- Michigan State University's Land Policy Institute
- O'Toole's 'The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook and Your Future'
- Staley's 'The Road More Traveled: Why the Congestion Crisis Matters More Than You Think and What We Can Do about It'
- Pedigo's 'Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life'
Reporter's Notebook
Hockey Just Doesn’t Get No Respect ()
If you were scanning the sports headlines, you might think that all the news these days is Kobe versus Dwight, or the Red Sox versus the Yankees. But there's another battle of the titans going on in the sports world. What about those guys slamming into each other on the ice? Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight. It's been a fierce series and yet hockey fans lament that no else seems to care. Christine Brennan is sports columnist for USA Today.
Guests:
- Christine Brennan: Sports Columnist, USA Today
Links:
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