Understanding the shrinkage phenomenon in Portugal

• Autor(a) principal: Panagopoulos, Thomas
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Barreira, Ana Paula
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/3983
• topic: Shrinking municipalities; Regeneration strategies; Sustainable municipalities; Local finance; Urban planning

Diverse regions in the Europe and the United States are related with loss of population and economic activity. While there are zones that have kept a dynamic of attraction of new residents, others, in opposition, present a persistent loss of population. The causes and consequences of the decrease of the population have already been studied. On the other hand, studies evaluating the impact of the decline of inhabitants in the local finances are scarce. The effects of the decreasing of population in the local public budgets in countries as Portugal assume a major importance, because local governments’ income depends in great measure on the number of inhabitants. The object of this article is to perceive how population decline in the Continental Portuguese municipalities with cities have affected the “budgetary health” and evaluate if local governments of urban and rural municipalities are alike regarding the way they deal with shrinkage. The data shows that the majority of the municipalities with cities with persistent decline in the number of residents have not yet began to adjust by decreasing public expenditures. The article also considers the effects in public expenditures faced by municipalities with a recent shrinkage process. It was found evidence that municipalities with cities look for to prevent or to postpone shrinkage by favouring certain public spending in the attempt to attract young population instead of adapting the municipality to the new reality and adjust growth in smaller size. Using the Alentejo region, a region that is predominantly shrinking as a whole, is found evidence that more rural municipalities began to accept the decrease of inhabitants and began to adjust the public expenditures profile towards the elderly.