Decline of the European city: a social tendency or a rhetoric figure?

Since decades, the Urban Sociology discusses the so called decline of the European city. International social theorists, like Saskia Sassen or Manuel Castells, describe the European city as an antiquated concept which, in times of the globalization, faces no future. Recently in Germany the urban sociology stresses a new phenomenon as an expression of this development: the shrinking city. In fact, demographic data indicates a diminuation of the population in metropolitan areas. But, does this mean that the European city is declining? In a critic review of contemporary studies in German Urban Sociology, this article tries to find out whether the decline of the European city can be considered as a social tendency or merely as a rhetoric figure of a scientific discipline in crisis.