Population Decline in Lithuania: Who Lives in Declining Regions and Who Leaves?

Since the 1990s, Lithuania lost almost a quarter of its population, and some regions within the country lost more than 50% of their residents. Such a sharp population decline poses major challenges to politicians, policy makers and planners. This study aims to get more insight into the recent processes of socio-spatial change and the role of...

Shrinking regions in a shrinking country: The geography of population decline in Lithuania 2001-2011

Shrinking populations have been gaining increasing attention, especially in post-socialist East and Central European countries. While most studies focus on specific cities and regions, much less is known about the spatial dimension of population decline on the national level, and the local factors determining spatially uneven population change....

Ethno-Political effects of suburbanization in the Vilnius urban region: An analysis of voting behavior

We use electoral data to analyze the ethno-political consequences that may arise from the fact that the region surrounding the city of Vilnius is dominated by residents with a Polish identity, while those who move to the suburbs are mainly ethnic Lithuanians. In the suburban ring we found increasing voting turnout, a decreasing share of votes...

Shrinking regions in a shrinking country: The geography of population decline in Lithuania 2001-2011 (discussion paper)

Shrinking populations have been gaining increasing attention, especially in post-socialist East and Central European countries. While most studies focus on the population decline of capital cities and their regions, much less is known about the spatial dimension of population decline on the national level. Lithuania is one of the countries which...

Socio-spatial transformations, suburbanisation, and voting behaviour in the Vilnius urban region

This paper analyses the interrelationship between the process of suburbanisation and a changing political and ethnic landscape in the Vilnius urban region. The region sur-rounding Vilnius city is dominated by Polish identity residents while those who suburbanise into the region are mainly ethnic Lithuanians. This may lead to potential tension...

Socio-spatial transformatioSocio-Spatial Transformations, Suburbanisation, and Voting Behaviour in the Vilnius Urban Regionns, suburbanisation, and voting behaviour in the Vilnius urban region (discussion paper)

This paper analyses the interrelationship between the process of suburbanization and a changing political and ethnic landscape in the Vilnius urban region. The region surrounding Vilnius city is dominated by Polish identity residents while those who suburbanise into the region are mainly ethnic Lithuanians. This may lead to potential tension and...