> But what does population decline look like on the ground? The experience of Japan, a country that has been showing this trend for more than a decade, might offer some insight. Already there are too few people to fill all its houses – one in every eight homes now lies empty. In Japan, they call such vacant buildings akiya – ghost homes.

> Most often to be found in rural areas, these houses quickly fall into disrepair, leaving them as eerie presences in the landscape, thus speeding the decline of the neighbourhood. Many akiya have been left empty after the death of their occupants; inherited by their city-living relatives, many go unclaimed and untended. With so many structures under unknown ownership, local authorities are also unable to tear them down.

It doesn't help that the Japanese have a strong bias against old/used homes, so land with a home on it is worth less than a vacant lot (because you have to factor in the cost of demolishing the existing home). I'm speculating, but that would probably also lead to houses that aren't built to last, and thus fall into disrepair more quickly.