Urban Planner, Designer and Creative Strategist Anna Belinskaia discusses her master’s thesis Planning in Times of Less: Reimagining Shrinking Cities through the Case of Överkalix (KTH, 2025).
The conversation explores how planning can respond to demographic decline and what it means to move beyond growth as the default goal.
Anna shares her research questions, methodology, and why Överkalix became the chosen case. Instead of reversing shrinkage, her proposal focuses on managing decline strategically through care, resilience, and long-term adaptability.
She also reflects on receiving the Arwidsson award and looks ahead to what’s next in 2026
Read her master thesis here
https://kth.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1988866&dswid=6434
___
Keep Up the Good Work. Keep Loving Cities ❤️️
__
All opinions expressed in each episode are personal to the guest and do not represent the Host of Urbanistica Podcast unless otherwise stated.
____
Follow Urbanistica on
Instagram ,
TikTok,
Facebook
&
_____
Let's connect and talk further about this episode
_____
Visit Mustafasherif.com for collaborations and nominations or email me at info@mustafasherif.com
_____
Thanks to Urbanistica Podcast partner AFRY (Urban Planning and Design)
AFRY is an international engineering and design company providing sustainable solutions in the fields of energy, industry, and infrastructure.