@BobJ: We are already seeing a collapse in Eastern India and parts of Bangladesh. Those places are extremely poor and don’t have much infrastructure, but rely heavily on what they do have. They can’t afford to replace it, and are barely getting any outside help.
If my predicted scenario comes to pass: The big cities will put all resources into rebuilding themselves to endure better, and help out the factory farms which supply the bulk of their food. National governments will also mostly prioritize bigger and wealthier cities over smaller and poorer ones. If things get so bad that the big cities can’t survive, then we’re talking global collapse, not smaller local ones.
If you’re referring to isolated, low-population communities which are fairly self-sufficient have never needed much infrastructure and can mostly adapt to do without, then yes, they’ll do fine. They might even last through a global collapse largely unchanged… at least until the warlords come a-knockin’. This isn’t what I was talking about, though, as the vast majority of people don’t live in places like that.
…Of course, I’m hoping for better. Not a fan of human misery, and the amount which exists in the world today is still too much.