the article suggests that bad urban planning can cause a city to shrink. reverse causation would be that cities which shrink result in bad urban planning. the

the article suggests that bad urban planning can cause a city to shrink. reverse causation would be that cities which shrink result in bad urban planning. the mechanism for the reverse causation could be that the best urban planners may choose to work in cities with promising growth. or, that shrinking makes urban planning too unpredictable to be effective. you seem to be assuming that urban planners cause a city to be desirable or not. I'm not so sure planners have as much influence, versus, say, trade/resources/industries. point being, i don't think the causal mechanisms on this are clear.