Characteristics and influences of urban shrinkage in the exo-urbanization area of the Pearl River Delta, China

Abstract In the globalization era, shrinking cities have emerged as a widespread phenomenon and become a new buzzword in regional and urban research discourse. The Pearl River Delta (PRD), one of the most representative areas of rapid urbanization in China, is characterized by export-oriented economy and “exo-urbanization.” Induced by the financial crisis of 2008, new spatial symptoms related to urban shrinkage, such as factory collapses, job losses, and vacant dwellings, were observed in this area. To investigate spatial-temporal characteristics of the crisis-induced shrinkage in the PRD, this paper proposes a theoretical approach to interpret urban growth and shrinkage in combination with economic, population, and land dimensions. Moreover, through an analysis of statistical data and in-depth interviews in the case of Dongguan, three primary influences (i.e., global financial crisis, demographic dividend diminishment, and change in institutional arrangement) on urban shrinkage in town-level cities are evaluated. This study not only contributes to the literature by analyzing the short-term urban shrinkage influenced by sudden economic shock in globalization but also demonstrates the complexity and multiplicity of urban shrinkage that emerged in the rapidly urbanizing area of the Global South.