This radical proposal may have a huge impact on historic landmarks and other sites. The Telegraph reports that dozens of US cities may have entire neighborhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered to tackle economic decline.
The government is looking at expanding a pioneering scheme in Flint, Michigan, one of the poorest US cities, which involves razing entire districts and returning the land to nature. Unemployment is now approaching 20 per cent in Flint and the total population has almost halved to 110,000. Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.
50 other cities, identified in a recent study by the Brookings Institution, an influential Washington think-tank, have been identified as potentially needing to shrink substantially to cope with their declining fortunes. Most are former industrial cities in the "rust belt" of America's Mid-West and North East. They include Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Memphis.
You can read more in the Telegraph.
