In a curious benefit to the environment, dozens of American cities are slated for shrinkage planning in the face of the deep recession and urban flight. Entire neighborhoods could face bulldozers.
With record numbers of unsold homes in cities and surrounding neighborhoods nationwide - particularly in the manufacturing corridors commonly referred to as the "rust belt," plans are in the works to tear down entire neighborhoods and return the land to nature.
The "shrink to survive" proposals are currently under consideration by the Obama administration and will target 50 cities across the country.
The idea originated in Flint, Michigan - one of the poorest cities in the United States - and was conceived by Dan Kildee, treasurer of Michigan's Genesee County, which includes Flint. Local politicians in Flint believe the city must contract by as much as 40 percent in order to remain viable.
"Having outlined his strategy to Barack Obama during the election campaign, Mr Kildee has now been approached by the US government and a group of charities who want him to apply what he has learnt to the rest of the country,"
reported The Telegraph.
The Brookings Institute, a Washington think-tank, has identified 50 cities across the United States that would be eligible for the "shrink to survive" program. The list includes Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Memphis.
"The real question is not whether these cities shrink – we're all shrinking – but whether we let it happen in a destructive or sustainable way," said Mr Kildee, in the Telegraph story. "Decline is a fact of life in Flint. Resisting it is like resisting gravity."
Flint boasts the origin of General Motors, but the ailing city now faces a 20 percent unemployment rate and a population that has halved to 110,000. The city has seen its youth disappear, and property values have crashed. The end result is a large swath of abandoned real estate.
"The obsession with growth is sadly a very American thing. Across the US, there's an assumption that all development is good, that if communities are growing they are successful. If they're shrinking, they're failing," said Kildee.
If Flint does not downsize it will eventually go bankrupt.
On a national plane, the concept is a tough pill to swallow. American culture has long believed that bigger is better and that growth is the main indication of success. To pare back entire neighborhoods among cities across the country is a brand of defeatism that may be foreign to many Americans.
But Mr. Kildee insists that it is "no more defeatist than pruning an overgrown tree so it can bear fruit again".
