61. Smaller Cities in a Shrinking World

Urban scholar Alan Mallach discusses the global shift toward population decline and its profound implications for cities, especially in the U.S., Europe, and East Asia. He argues that shrinking cities are not failures but emerging realities that require abandoning the “gospel of growth.” Instead of chasing globalized investment, Mallach urges cities to build resilient, locally rooted economies through networked localism—a mix of distributed manufacturing, renewable micro‑energy systems, remote work/education/healthcare, and regionally integrated food systems.

Intro/Outro: "Smaller and Smaller," by Faith No More