Deindustrialisation and its impacts in cities in the Global South

This is the first large-scale multi-site comparative research project focused on deindustrialisation in cities the global South.

Deindustrialisation is associated with economic decline in the former industrial heartlands of the OECD, but economists have recently demonstrated that deindustrialisation has been more severe in the global South. However, deindustrialisation has gone largely unnoticed by urban scholars focused on cities in the global South, who have tended to focus on particularisms that distinguish cities in the global South from those in the OECD. This project seeks to address this gap in knowledge by comparing the diverse manifestations of deindustrialisation and its impacts in three cities in the global South. The research will demonstrate how deindustrialisation has unfolded in a range of complex ways, and document its impacts on key stakeholders and their responses.

This research is being carried out by Seth Schindler in collaboration with J. Miguel Kanai, University of Sheffield, Deusdedit Rwehumbiza, University of Dar es Salaam, and Ashok Kumar, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.