Agnes Matoga

• Experimenting in the urban realm has become a very attractive and influential trend within the last years. Real world laboratories, living labs and other formats have been popping up in cities worldwide with the goal to reevaluate and rethink today’s complex challenges, how cities are governed and which methods can help in improving urban futures. Experiments of such nature often include increased attention on the collaborative practices between municipalities, citizens, academia and the private sector and focus on transdisciplinarity. Shrinking cities are no exception in this regard. They have been argued to be niches for innovative approaches and playgrounds for trying out new methods, despite the plethora of challenges that such places have to accommodate. Bridging the fields of urban experimentation and shrinkage however, has not been a prominent topic on the research agenda yet. This thesis closes this gap by looking at the two cases, Heerlen, the Netherlands and Halle (Saale), Germany, through the lens of experimental governance. Since shrinkage is strongly affecting resources of local governments in these two cities, they depend on healthy relationships with different actors. How these local governments communicate, interact and work with citizens and civic initiatives in the long-term, how accessible they are and how daring they are to change processes and attitudes, can be defining factors for the accommodation of shrinkage. The results of the research point to thought-provoking processes. Both cases show very interesting trajectories and enduring effects of governance changes that were predominantly results of public actor’s dare to experiment. Experimentation in this regard looks different in the two cases: in Halle (Saale), turning a blind eye on the informal and sometimes illegal practices of civic initiatives, but also increased personal interest of civil servants in working with such groups, have been significant factors. In the case of Heerlen, the implementation of an independent “brooker” who facilitated contact and communication between citizens, civic initiatives and public servants, led to successful changes in governing vacant land. Examining the shrinking cities of Halle (Saale) and Heerlen through the lens of experimental governance further sheds new light on the topic of institutional capacity and capacity building to experiment in shrinking cities. The thesis concludes with the findings that some shrinking cities can be birthplaces of innovation, regardless of lower public budgets, selective outmigration, a weaker economy or declining trust in local governments. The reasons for this are manifold, however they can point to a changing view on shrinking cities that is far away from the once predominant negative and pessimistic picture.