The existence of temporarily vacant lots (gaps) is a frequent manifestation of the shrinking cities phenomenon, which offers opportunities to add missing elements to the city's fabric. The paper clarifies the options for the temporary use of these gaps within the central urban areas, what they can provide to their surroundings in the short term, and what hinders their use. I address how to provide qualitative improvements in conditions of quantitative nongrowth through the flexibility and adaptability of temporary arrangements and describe it using the examples of Ostrava (CZE) and Leipzig (GER) analysing the selected neighbourhoods with gaps on two levels: on the one hand its existing structure and on the other hand its missing part (gaps). In the case of gaps, I examine their position in the neighbourhood, size, infrastructural coverage, ownership, physical form (surface, boundaries) or status in the land use plan. By combining these analyses, I identify „spatial supply and demand“ and try to find out why they are not currently saturated, even though they largely overlap. The current use of the gaps is dominated by parking and fallowing, but conversely, there is demand for other uses besides parking: community gardens, sports facilities, playgrounds and more. The intersection of supply and demand is hampered by waiting for the ideal solution, ownership, legislation, and the fear of petrifying the temporary use. In shrinking cities, it is not always possible to target a final solution, but it is also necessary to explore interim measures that can open the door to a long-term settlement.