detroit case study

• dereliction


  state of having been abandoned and becoming dilapidated
• deprivation


  damaging lack of material benefits considered to be basic necessities in society
• De-industrialisation


  decline of regionally important manufacturing industries

  - decline can be chartered either in terms of workforce numbers or output and production measures
• Detroit


  - state of Michigan

  - by Michigan river

  - on border with Canada
• why is Detroit a good location for trade and manufacturing?

  - well connected

  - methods of transport (shipping on lakes)

  - borders Canada
• transport hub


  - 19th century, shipping and shipbuilding brought wealth to city

  - economic rewards available in the emerging transport hub
• steel belt boom


  - significant population growth in 19th cent

  - expansion (both population and land) in 20th cent

  - manufacturing of new standardised consumer products to export around world

  steel belt :

  - well established waterways, canals, roads and railroads connected iron ore mines with coal resources
• steel belt -> rust belt

  - known as rust belt due to economic decline of late 20th century
• exogenous (outside) factors for steel belt boom

  - coal and iron ore from Appalachian Mountains

  - overseas market for cars

  - car market within America

  - migration
• endogenous (inside) factors for steel belt boom

  - infrastructure, roads, canals

  - connections to steel belt

  - companies eg. General Motors and Ford

  - Great Lake and Canada border

  - internal population
• migration and population growth

  - African Americans travelled to apply for new jobs created in automotive industry

  --- known as Great Migration

  - driven by supremacist group, felt pushed out by lack of economic opportunities elsewhere apart from labouring on plantations

  - also welcomed southern and eastern Europeans post war
• three big car companies

  - ford

  - general motors

  - chrystler
• Detroit music


  - famous for rock n roll

  - why is known as 'Motown'

  - In 1959 the Motown record label was created in Detroit

  - It fused predominantly 'black' soul music with predominantly 'white' pop music

  - Company signed bands e.g. the Jackson 5
• sense of place in 1950

  - boomtown

  - 5th largest city in America

  - safe

  - economically thriving with automotive industry
• decline in car industry

  - international oil crisis prompted drivers to by vehicles with greater fuel economy

  - competitors from asia eg, honda, nissan and toyota produced more desirable models

  - Detroit's big employers suffered decline in sales and profits - increasing unemployment levels
• what happened in 2013?

  Detroit filed for bankruptcy

  - unable to pay $18.5 billion in debts

  - largest municipal bankruptcy in history
• impacts of manufacturing industry decline - ECONOMY

  - mismanagement of government

  - filing for bankruptcy protection in 2013

  - loss of pensions for residents

  - high unemployment rates
• impacts of manufacturing industry decline - COMMUNITIES

  - population halved over 60 year period

  - white flight - people moving to suburbs

  - 30,000 worker + retirees relying on gov pensions - gov struggling to pay them

  - 250,000 residents moved out in the last 10 years - destroys community and sense of place

  - highest crime rate in USA
• impacts of manufacturing industry decline - URBAN ENVIRONMENT

  - dereliction - graffitti, abandoned buildings, fly tipping

  - aboandoned houses and schools

  ---burned, vandalised, less education lead to lower attainment and skilled workers
• white flight


  - second half of the twentieth century middle-class white families moved to the suburbs

  -had higher incomes so could afford to commute to the city centre and move

  - jobs / businesses moved to suburbs, created a new socio-economic, spatial pattern.
• effect of deindustrialisation on residents

  - unsafe -> only 1/3 ambulances in working order

  - high crime rates - police take 58 mins on avg to arrive at crime scene

  - less desire to live there

  - forced to move into suburbs if possible

  - less jobs = inc unemployement , 1/3 of population in poverty

  - population fallen by 60%
• social and economic divide of Detroit

  suburbs ( Grosse pointe, N of 8 mile rd) - predominantly white, increased affluence

  city limits (CBD) -

  less affluent, less money earned per year, predominantly African American
• 8 mile road and Alter Road significance

  - where the visible economic and social divide within city occurs
• economic resurgence


  - regeneration, both economic and structural, of an urban area which has suffered a period of decline.
• sense of place in Detroit now

  - levels of investment and business occupancy rates incr

  - new, young, innovative residents moved in

  - cheap rents and property prices

  - moved Detroit's image to something cool and desirable
• recovery park


  - now a Tilapia (fish) farm

  - $220 million urban farming project

  - 18 tanks, each with 33000 fish

  - create 5,000 jobs over 10-12 years
• Georgia street community garden

  BOTTOM UP SCHEME

  - was little access to fresh, affordable food

  - growing food w help from community - goats, chicken, veg

  - no help from gov > they're illegal in Detroit
• Earthworks


  BOTTOM UP

  - farming community

  - produce distributed to 1000 families

  - support people to grow their own food

  - education, supplies, training program
• Downtown Detroit - central business district (CBD)

  - Dan Gilbert - CEO of quicken loans

  - 110 tech companies come in 3 years

  - stepping up to help downtown detroit

  - moved his headquarters there - occupancy of buildings gone from 20% to 95% in 4 years

  - building work, new high rises, billions invested

  - lots of apartments, mostly young graduates as rent cheaper, brings skills to area
• Detroit properties

  - 7,700 buildings removed (dereliction programme) o

  - hotels, gated communities, penthouses

  - kept original buildings, keeps SOP and historical influence

  - old fire stations, depots ect bought and converter into homes

  - attracts young professionals and empty nesters

  - high end homes at affordable prices
• resurgence outcomes


  - heavily dominated by tertiary sector (providing services)

  - widened inequality, increasing social polarisation

  --- feel left out, may not have transferable skills to new industries so cant earn as much money
• social polarisation


  gap between social groups
• sources of data we used

  - geospatial maps

  - newspaper articles

  - documentaries

  - photographs

  - Eminem song

  newspaper articles, documentaries, photographs - could all be bias, extreme, making the city's state look better / worse
• Detroit's population change


  - total population increased from 300,000 to 700,000

  - population has fluctuated

  - 1950 reached 1.8 million - this is when white pop started to decrease and African American pop increases

  - by 1970, more African Americans

  - in 2010:

  --- 700,000 is total pop

  --- 600,000 African Americans

  --- 100,000 white
• lose yourself' - Eminem

  - "One shot, or one opportunity"

  - "Snap back to reality"

  - "He's broke"

  - "Mobile home"

  - "Grown farther from home, he's no father"

  - "I can't get by with my 9 to 5"

  - "I can't provide the right type of life for my family"

  - "Food stamps don't buy diapers"

  - "I end up in jail or shot"

  - "Trailer's got to go"