Abstract
Population decline is a challenging phenomenon to discuss in political and societal circles. Many aldermen, heads of school, and corporate directors have difficulty in handling this situation. Decline is something to be talked about in hushed whispers because it refers to deterioration, regression, and corporate failure. Growth is a positive word: it refers to success, progress, and opportunity. Growth makes one confident and proud—decline is about uncertainty and shame. In the planning of society, the economy and public administration, growth is the leading principle; decline is the undesirable opposite.
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Notes
- 1.
The term ‘urbanisation’ refers to the building density; the term ‘urbanity’ refers to the ways of thinking and acting. See Zijderveld (1998).
- 2.
‘De volkstellingen, die daarna werden gehouden, versterkten die indruk. Het verschil dat in 1870 was waargenomen, leek in de jaren daarna geen incident te blijven, maar structureel te worden.’
- 3.
‘Der ganze Begriff der Gesellschaft im sozialen und politischen Sinn findet seine natürliche Grundlage in den Sitten und Anschauungen des dritten Standes… Seine Gesellschaft ist zu einer Quelle und zugleich zum Ausdruck gemeinsamer Urteile und Tendenzen geworden. Wo immer die städtische Kultur Blüten und Früchte trägt, da erscheint auch die Gesellschaft als ihr unerbehrliches Organ. Das Land kennt sie nur wenig.’ (p. 4).
- 4.
The South Korean government indicated that in 2020 every household must have a household robot.
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Hospers, GJ., Reverda, N. (2015). Growth and Decline. In: Managing Population Decline in Europe's Urban and Rural Areas. SpringerBriefs in Population Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12412-4_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12412-4_3
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