case study : Detroit

• aka Motor City
• 60% of all children live in poverty
• located in north of USA , state of Michigan
• sits on Detroit river
• flat + low-lying
• 19th century - ship building brought wealth to the city
• industrial decline started around the 1980s
• has French history - represented by 5 fleur-de-lis on flag
• 1000 african-americans go to Detroit every month in 1950s
• white flight - white people moved to the suburbs after 60's riots , taking factories with them

  • lead to a brain drain
• rise in crime in the 70s
• 2013 = declared bankruptcy

  • £350 million budget deficit , £18 billion in debt
• gentrification of the downtown area
• 71% of jobs held by white men from the suburbs
• 1701: founded by white French colonists
• 1760s: white British took control
• 1830: Detroit became a major transport hub
• 1903: Henry Ford (motor company founded)
• 1950: total population peaked
• 1959: Motown records founded
• 1967: race riot in rebellion of racial segregation of African-Americans
• 1973: First African-American mayor declared
• 1990: peak of african-american population : 800,000
• 1991: crime rates peaked , 2700 violent crimes per 10,000 people
• 2008: Toyota (leader in global sales) overtook General Motors
• 2009: General Motors files for bankruptcy
• 2010: lowest white population
• 2013: bankruptcy of Detroit declared
• 12% of people employed in manufacturing
• 14% of people employed in healthcare and assistance
• 14% of people employed in government
• 11% of people employed in retail trade
• ford motors launched in 1903
• ford motors moved out of Detroit but then recently came back to the quinary sector with investment into research
• ford motor only now hires skilled workers to do its research
• Detroits location for manufacturing ideal because:

  • proximity to Canada
  • access to the Great Lakes
• city's geography became irrelevant due to :

  • interstate highway system
  • globalisation
  • dramatic inflation in labour costs due to urbanisation
• average price of homes sold in Detroit in 2012 sold for $7,500
• January 2013:

  • 47 houses listed for $500
• lots of boarded up , abandoned houses = not attractive to buyers