Detroit

• History

  • Auto industry- most powerful in the world
  • Had the big three companies- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler
  • 4th largest city in the US
  • 1950- Population of 1.85 million
  • 1950- Instability of the auto industry became apparent
  • Relied too heavily on one industry
• Dereliction

  • Widespread environmental dereliction
  • Caused by:
  • Manufacturing industry closures
  • Falling house prices
  • Rising crime
  • ‘Broken windows’ scenario develops
  • Small acts of vandalism are tolerated at first. Soon, serious problems like arson are common
• High Unemployment

  • Global shift- led to the disappearance of the city’s automobile industry
  • Still unable to replace the large number of jobs lost
• Crime

  • Rising gun crime
  • Some low-income US urban districts- Life expectancy is 30 years lower than in affluent districts
  • Drug-related crimes- bases of an informal economy of poor neighbourhoods in failing US cities
  • Areas that are detached from legitimate global flows- attached to illegal global flows of drugs and people trafficking
• Depopulation

  • Lost 1 million residents since 1950
  • Resulted in a catastrophic collapse in housing prices
  • Baltimore- 1/3 population lost- 20,000 abandoned properties
  • Homes in some districts- sold for $1
  • Those who stayed- trapped in a state of negative equity
  • Process of migration has left districts mainly populated by African-Americans
  • Reignited racial tensions in cities like Baltimore and Jackson