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• CO 2 emission inventories of shrinking and growing cities are compiled. • Emission patterns of various shrinking and growing cities are investigated. • CO 2 emission mitigation of shrinking cities occurred with the decline of secondary industry. • Growing cities can achieve emissions mitigation with economic growth. • Results are helpful for shrinking and growing cities' sustainable development. The implementation of CO 2 emission mitigation policies in cities is the key to China achieving its national emission mitigation targets. China is experiencing rapid urbanization and facing huge inequality in regional development and then shrinking cities generate. This study, for the first time, discusses long-term CO 2 emission patterns of shrinking cities with comparisons of growing cities. 55 cities in Northeast China and the Yangtze River Delta are selected as cases. We first categorize these cities into three groups of shrinking cities and three groups of growing cities with a population index. Each group's emission patterns in terms of energy, employment and industry structures are then examined. We find that CO 2 emissions in the rapidly shrinking group presented a continuously increasing trend, while the other five groups reached their emission peaks in 2011–2013. For slightly and moderately shrinking groups, CO 2 emission mitigation was a positive sign but occurred with the decline of secondary industry, especially for resource-based or heavy manufacturing cities, such as Daqing and Anshan in Northeast China. In the case of three types of growing cities, cities were capable of mitigating CO 2 emissions and maintaining economic growth. The slightly growing group was the optimal type among these six groups. Its CO 2 emissions experienced a decline with an annual rate of −1.47% during 2013–2015, while the economy still soared (increased by 7.27% annually). New economic growth points should be fostered to mitigate further shrinkage and achieve sustainable development for shrinking cities. The cities' categorization rules, research thinking, and results offered in this study could provide a reference for other cities or developing countries at similar industrialization/urbanization phases to abbreviate their path towards a low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]