Managed decline

‘Managed decline’ refers to the management of the decline or “sunset” phase at the end of a lifecycle, with the goal of minimising costs or other forms of losses and harm. The concept originates in business where it referred to the management of companies and industries, but has since spread beyond to be used in other contexts.

In 1981, Chancellor Geoffrey Howe proposed a strategy of managed decline, or strategic abandonment to Margaret Thatcher for the city of Liverpool, following the Toxteth riots. Since this moment, the phrase has taken on new urgency and understanding in relation to the urban environment.

Frequently, housing campaigners frame the conditions of the estates they live on as the result of ‘managed decline,’ in which sites are tactically allowed to fall into a state of dilapidation. From this framing, the conditions are seen to have resulted from the deliberate and strategic withdrawal of maintenance services and related work, often with the goal of later being able to justify the regeneration of the estate due to the level of disrepair.