Yes this is a story about a changing population and changing preferences/location needs, but we're also seeing something a little bit similar in the US which is more about the fact that the quality of housing stocks tend to degrade over time. Depreciation.
As much as I love the urban hellhole, I've never been in the "SUBURBS ARE DYING" camp. But while it isn't true in a general sense, it's true of some locations. That post-war housing stock is getting old. Older houses are more and more expensive to maintain, and more and more expensive to bring up in line with modern sensibilities. As those of us in urban hellholes know, there are huge negative externalities associated with empty dilapidated houses and very little in place to do much about it.
I've been shocked recently to see boarded up suburban homes in places. Not saying it's an epidemic in my general neck of the woods, but it is something I have seen.
Also, too, infrastructure costs. For various reasons funding repairs is more difficult than funding shiny new stuff.
Some of the problems associated with older urban hellholes are fanning out to older suburbs. It's expensive to fix your water pipes, and it's expensive to maintain your housing stock.
