7XX9M0 - Urban trends and strategies
DETROIT: ADAPTIVE REUSE A FORM OF RESILIENCE
MALAK MEHTA STUDENT NO.: 1321749 31-01-2020
Contents Summary.............................................................................................................................................................. 2 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Detroit: Shrinking City................................................................................................................................ 3 1.2 Why Vacancy ? ........................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Detroit – City profile ........................................................................................................................................ 4 3. Problem statement and Vision ........................................................................................................................ 5 3.1 Problem Statement.................................................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Vision ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 4. Overview of conditions.................................................................................................................................... 7 4.1 Existing housing market and vacancy ........................................................................................................ 7 4.2 Existing Land-use ....................................................................................................................................... 8 5. Intervention ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 5.1 Locations of spatial interventions.............................................................................................................. 8 5.2 Interventions and strategies ...................................................................................................................... 9 5.2.1. Phase 1 (0 – 5 years) .......................................................................................................................... 9 5.2.2. Phase 2 (5 -10 years) ........................................................................................................................ 11 5.2.3. Phase 3 (7 – 15 years) ...................................................................................................................... 12 6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 References ......................................................................................................................................................... 16 List of Figures with Reference ........................................................................................................................... 17 Appendix A ........................................................................................................................................................ 18 Appendix B......................................................................................................................................................... 19 Appendix C......................................................................................................................................................... 20
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Summary Detroit is one of the largest cities in Michigan (USA), that has experienced the contradictions of prosperity of industrial age and decline during the post-industrial era (Rybczynski & Linneman, 1999). The city thrived with the setting up of the three big automobile companies (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) and reached its peak population of 1.8millions. The movement of industries to suburbs led to decentralization and suburbanization of the city along with strong racial segregation. In the late 1960s, the relocation of these industries out of Detroit caused extensive unemployment and the city declined with immense loss of population and extremely high vacancy rates. With increased unemployment and economy drop, overall crime and poverty increased, and Detroit was no more a safe place to live. Due to lack of revenue and funds, the city of Detroit filed bankruptcy in 2013. Over the years, even though the economic situation has improved, the decline in population has continued, though at a low rate than before. New business and service opportunities have been developed for people, yet its not enough to be at par with the rates of unemployment. During the last few decades, majority of the people migrated out of Central Detroit leaving the city abandoned. Vacancy remains a big issue as neither the city is able to satisfy its residents nor is it being able to attract new inhabitants. Enormous number of vacant units and plots are spread across the city. Moreover, the infrastructure in Detroit is old and difficult to maintain. Even though the number of housing units have decreased over the years, the rate of housing vacancy is still high. The city has a 50-year plan featuring future Detroit with blend of traditional and modern infrastructure. However, there is no proper planning done to change the current situation or improve and make use of the existing vacant structures. The focus of the report is to analyse and propose how these existing vacant units and plots can be re-used and adapted for different purposes. The idea is to provide a mixed land-use in the region such that the need for people to go to the suburbs is reduced. The utilization of vacant properties may help increase the opportunities for employment and make the city more liveable and attractive.
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1. Introduction 1.1 Detroit: Shrinking City The city of Detroit has undergone its own ups and downs. From being one of the most populated cities to now being depicted as “shrinking city”, with a loss of 60% of population in last 60 years (Xie et al.,2018). The population of Detroit decreased from 1.8 million in 1950 to 1 million in 1970 and reduced further to 60,000 in 2010 (Urban Institute, 2017). During the post-industrial time, along with decrease in population, Detroit also faced extreme loss of business, lack of employment and also its working population (Figure 1). Moreover, drifting of population out of Detroit, left behind emptiness – vacant houses, unused buildings and ultimately an abandoned city.
Figure 1 Index of Decline of Detroit since 1970 (Source: Urban Institute,2017)
Urban sprawl is a trending phenomenon shaping big cities. With urban sprawl, many cities start experiencing development of the suburbs and a deterioration of the inner city, creating “Donut Effect”. The donut effect can be observed in the city of Detroit as well. The Metropolitan Detroit became more developed as a result of people moving to suburbs, while the Central Detroit stood vacant. According to Xie et al. (2018), even though the city of Detroit lost its population, the overall population of its suburbs increased along with expansion of Metropolitan area (Xie et al., 2018).
1.2 Why Vacancy ? Inhabiting a “Shrinking City”? What is it like to live in a shrinking city? A shrinking city is escorted with a high vacancy rate. Depopulated and vacant cities become unpleasant for its inhabitants along with being uninviting for new inhabitants. The buildings remain vacant in a state of decay (Rybczynski & Linneman, 1999). Moreover, these vacant buildings also become playgrounds for “vandalism” and other illegal activities further paving way for crime and feelings of insecurity (Rybczynski & Linneman, 1999). These cities are faced with additional problems of maintenance of services with lack of revenue and hence a reduced sense of appeal to continue to stay. All of these challenges are faced by Detroit at an extreme level. Population shrinkage in Detroit left enormous parts of the city vacant, damaging the continuous urban fabric of the city. About 20 square miles of area in Central Detroit is occupied by vacant buildings and plots (Detroit Future City,2012). Vacancy in Detroit is becoming a “blight, abandonment and public safety risk” (Detroit Future City,2012) and hence needs to be handled in order to fulfil the necessities of the residents. According 3|Page 7XX9M0
to Detroit Future City, “Land is Detroit’s greatest liability and its greatest asset” (Detroit Future City, 2012). Most of this land is occupied by residential units out of which about 80,000 of the units are vacant (Detroit Future City,2012). The question is whether these vacant units and plots can be used for different purposes? How can they be adapted in order to improve the quality of life of the residents and attract more inhabitants? The aim of this report is to answer the above questions by providing strategies for solving of the problem of “vacancy” in Detroit, such that the existing vacant properties are utilized for good. It is important to note that the report focusses on the vacancy and re-use of residential units and vacant plots as they presently occupy majority of the land in the city of Detroit. The report provides an overview of the history of Detroit, drawing reasons for the decline of the city and later connecting these to the issue of vacancy. Further, the present scenario in Detroit is studied in terms of its demographical, social, geographical, political and economic factors. This is followed by analysing the vacancy and land-use of the city to provide a baseline for the intervention. Finally, spatial strategies for adaptive reuse are implemented in terms of changing the land-use in the anticipated locations to improve the vitality of the city and make it more suitable for the inhabitants.
2. Detroit – City profile Detroit is seen as one of the largest cities of the state Michigan in USA. The city emerged with river trade and commerce and contributed profoundly in the development of Northwest Territory of USA (Future City Detroit,2012). Detroit flourished with establishment of the three major automobile industries (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) and flooded with employment opportunities, giving a boost to the population that reached upto 1.8 million in 1950(Weber,2013). Large number of “single-family neighbourhoods” were built to house the increasing population, which were far spread across the city (Future City Detroit,2012). Later, the shifting of automobile industries to the outskirts of Detroit, lead to decentralization and suburbanization. With this shifting, the phenomenon of “White Flight” took place and the white people migrated to the suburbs (Bentley et al.,2015). As a result, the Black Population became concentrated in the centre causing a strong “Racial Segregation” (Bentley et al.,2015). Over time, technology and automation were adopted by the auto industries, which decreased the need for labour, reducing employment opportunities. Furthermore, the racial tension gave rise to the riots in 1960s, creating widespread violence and immense damage to properties (Surge,2004). In the following decades, these automobile industries drifted away from Detroit due to gasoline and financial crisis, leaving the residents unemployed and crashing the economy of Detroit. Between 1970 and 1980, there was massive decline in population which continued even after 2000 and city of Detroit started facing the challenge of increasing vacancy. After 2000, various political changes took place, from being ruled by only White people to the election of a Black mayor. The political structure in Detroit was “racially divisive” and contributed towards worsening the situation in Detroit (McDonald,2014; pg16). After poor governance and complete loss of revenue, Detroit filed for bankruptcy in 2013 and the control was passed on to the State of Michigan. The situation gave rise to further unemployment and population decline, instigating increased vacancy rates, negative impact on economy, greater land consumption yet low population, increased poverty and crime and ultimately the lost feelings of safety and security (Mertzger,2010).
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Figure 2 . Detroit City Map
Detroit is depicted as one of the most distressed cities in North America (Draus et al., 2018). Since 1970, Detroit lost more than half of its population and still continues to grow smaller at a lower rate. The urban fabric in Detroit is deteriorating with the unmaintained and decaying urban structures and the vacant lands are becoming territories for dumping waste and vegetative growth (Xie et al., 2018). About 80% of the jobs and retails are located in Metropolitan Detroit, whereas “Downtown” is the only active commercial neighbourhood in the centre. While attempts have been made on improvising the situation in Detroit, the efforts focus only on the Downtown business district and majority of the other neighbourhoods are ignored (Xie et al., 2018). The city proposed a 50-year future plan in 2012 that involved the study of vacancy in the different neighbourhoods and anticipated a planning with management of vacant assets, changing typologies of the neighbourhoods, improved transport network, and a strategic zone framework.
3. Problem statement and Vision 3.1 Problem Statement Detroit experienced population loss and vacancy at a greater scale than any other post-industrial city (Urban Institute,2017). Real Estate was hard hit with population decline in Detroit and the Housing Market was the most affected. Majority of the land in Central Detroit was and is still occupied by residential units that were constructed to house millions of populations in 1900s. The complete system of the city was designed to incorporate huge population and could no longer be maintained with the loss in population. According to the Urban Institute (2017), between 1980 and 2010, the number of housing units in Detroit decreased from 450,000 to 280,000 (Bentley,2015). Most of these units were either damaged in racial riots or decayed due to old age. Even though there was immense decrease in the number of housing units, the rate of housing vacancy still increased from 9% in 1980 to 29% in 2010 (Bentley,2015). Moreover, between 2000
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and 2010, although the housing units reduced by 70,000 units, the number of vacant units doubled along with tripled vacancy rate. According to Farley (1994), Detroit was found to have immense racial segregation due to economic differences between the races, preferences of people to stay with their own race and discriminatory practices by brokers and lenders in the housing market. With suburbanization, the White Flight took place as the White people moved to the suburbs and the central city remained occupied by the Black people commencing strong racial segregation (Bentley,2015). With population loss, racial segregation, suburbanization, lack of investment and ineffective housing policies, the housing market in Detroit crashed and left enormous housing units vacant (Urban Institute,2017). Increasing unemployment and poverty, further led to a decrease in homeownership and an increase in renters. Moreover, various properties in Detroit were demolished either due to the damage caused in riots or because of the old age of the structures, which rendered a huge number of plots vacant. Vacant housing units and plots not only leach the life away from a city but also increase the chances of crime and feelings of insecurity with degraded quality of life. The vacant units in Detroit with their abandonment and blight, create an unsafe atmosphere for the residents and hence need to be taken care of.
3.2 Vision The vision of this report is to create a city that adapts to change and moulds itself taking advantage of the available resources. The idea is to apply adaptive reuse to the existing vacant buildings and plots by changing land-use and zoning. These vacant units can be used for various purposes such as offices, healthcare, small shops, parks, recreational spaces, etc. in order to improve the economy and make the city active. Putting the vacant buildings to use may not only help utilise the existing infrastructure, but may also provide opportunities for increasing employment, decreasing crime and boost overall economy of Detroit without waiting for long term investments. Moreover, it would also attract inhabitants with a promising future. The strategies mentioned further are based on a pragmatic approach. Instead of making the city grow bigger or smaller, the idea is to make it prosper within its own limitations. The vision mentioned above differs when compared to the vision of the city of Detroit. The Detroit Future City strategy is based on a 50 year land-use scenario, transforming neighbourhoods completely into different typologies. While not much attention is paid to the present scenarios. Moreover, Downtown area is the only neighbourhood where interventions are made currently, while other neighbourhoods stand vacant and unused as before. The vision of this report is instead focusing on plans that can start in the immediate future. Moreover, the 50-year plan is more ambitious, it is not based on the idea of re-use and adapting to the existing infrastructure but in turn proposes regeneration of neighbourhoods.
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4. Overview of conditions In order to reach the aim, it is first necessary to understand the current scenario in Detroit. Studying the existing housing market gives an insight on deciding the pre-conditions that need to be in place for implementing the solutions. Further, the study of the maps of housing vacancy rate, percentage of vacant plots and demolitions, give an idea about which of the neighbourhoods are in urgent need of transformation to become active. Moreover, the analysis from existing land-use map allows to figure out, how the neighbourhoods in the city of Detroit are organized and if the existing zoning is efficient or not.
4.1 Existing housing market and vacancy Along with various problems leading to housing vacancy, the existing housing in Detroit is itself responsible for housing vacancy. Most of the single-family and low-density houses (Detroit Future City,2012) occupying a huge amount of land in Detroit were built between 1920-1940. These houses have become old and the quality of the housing is degraded due to lack of maintenance. Moreover, the age of the structure of some of the housing makes them unsuitable for occupancy. The present market scenario demands furnished and ready to move in houses and also prefers the ones that are easy to maintain (Urban Institute, 2017). The vacant housing in Detroit lacks furnishing, are decayed with wear and tear and does not provide any other variety except for single family and low-density housing. Strategies for managing the problems with existing housing units can be found in Appendix. The maps below show the segregation of rate of housing vacancy (figure), percentage of vacant plots (figure ) and the number of demolitions(figure ) in Detroit.
Figure 3 Housing vacancy rates, Detroit 2010 (Source: Data Driven Detroit) Figure 4 Percentage of vacant plots, Detroit 2010 (Source: Data Driven Detroit) Figure 5 Number of Demolitions, Detroit 2010 (Source: Data Driven Detroit)
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4.2 Existing Land-use The figure below provides a basic “geographic and spatial distribution” of the existing zoning and the land-use of Detroit (Zone Detroit,2018). It can be observed that, while the residential zone is spread throughout the city and occupies majority of the land, the Commercial corridors are consistent and form edges across the roads. The industrial area seems to create a “clear ring around the inner city”(Zone Detroit,2018;pg 3). Most of the neighbourhoods have small parks but there are only few large-scale green areas.
Figure 6 Existing Land-use Detroit,2018
According to Zone Detroit (2018),the reality is different than the zoning shown on maps and more than 38% of the residential units are vacant. In the case of commercially zoned parcels, 54% are either unbuilt, or vacant or used for parking (Zone Detroit,2018).
5. Intervention 5.1 Locations of spatial interventions The locations of interventions are selected taking into consideration the above maps (Figure 3,4,5). These locations are areas with maximum vacant housing units, areas with highest percentage of vacant plots and the areas with maximum demolition. Figure 7 thus gives an insight on the locations which are facing highest vacancy and need to be revived and made active sooner.
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Figure 7 Locations for interventions
5.2 Interventions and strategies The strategy is based on an understanding of the existing vacancy structure in the city of Detroit. The idea focusses on using the land in a resourceful manner through re-use and adaptation of existing structures. The new zoning is suggested such that, every residential neighbourhood has a commercial zone and recreational zone near it. The idea of relaxed and flexible zoning is recommended so that the people who are already living in these neighbourhoods are not displaced due to fixed norms. The strategy aims first at making the city suitable for the existing residents and then improvising it for attracting new inhabitants. The interventions are divided in to three phases – short-term phase 1, mid-term phase 2 and long-term phase 3. The various details such as feasibility, finance, political and social resistance are also explained further.
5.2.1. Phase 1 (0 – 5 years) Phase 1 of the proposal involves the strategies that can be seen as short-term strategies and small-scale interventions that can be applied at this moment for transforming the city of Detroit. It constitutes re-use and adaption of the existing vacant housing units for commercial and institutional purposes and the vacant plots for creating green areas. The industrial zones are retained as before except for the ones falling under the area of highest vacancy. After bankruptcy in 2013, there is lack of funding and reserves to fulfil regeneration of the neighbourhoods in Detroit. Hence, the short-term strategies are based more on a resource-based approach to utilise what is existing. The vacant housing units to be re-used need to be selected in such a way that they do not require a huge amount of investment for retrofitting and refurbishment. Moreover, Phase 1 focuses mainly on improving the condition of the city for the residents and involves initiatives from them towards the betterment of Detroit. 9|Page 7XX9M0
Figure 8 Proposal : Phase 1
Emerging “Green pockets” The areas with a combination of highest percentage of vacant plots, maximum housing vacancy and highest rate of demolitions can be adapted into “Green pockets”. The vacant plots in these areas can be used for urban farming and open community spaces. The residents can be encouraged to buy the vacant lands next to their plot and cultivate it to earn better. This can also be done at a community level, where the residents of the neighbourhood come together and give inputs to promote agriculture in the nearby vacant lands. Community residents can also construct temporary shelters, food stalls or tents, etc. on the vacant lands and use them as meeting areas for recreation. Moreover, these vacant lands can also be used for gardening and further be converted into natural landscapes or parks. Corporate sponsorship would better at this scale for creating large landscapes and parks instead of community initiatives. As mentioned by Rybczynski & Linneman (1999), city of New York offered 20,000 vacant lands to private companies for converting those into parks in return of providing these companies space for advertisement (Rybczynski & Linneman,1999). Similar initiative can be taken in Detroit as well to expand and create green areas by offering them to private companies and thus spending less or no amount of revenue and also saving up on time. Expansion of commercial and institutional zone The existing land-use plan showcases that commercial corridors are spread linearly across Detroit. But, in reality, 54% of these parcels are unbuilt and empty. The strategy thus suggests retaining the two major commercial corridors instead of maintaining all of them. Instead, the vacant residential neighbourhoods surrounding the existing industrial zone are proposed to be re-used for commercial purposes mainly to promote and increase business opportunities. They can be used as shops, retail stores, banks, offices, post offices, libraries, and so on. Furthermore, these residential units can be rented to Start-ups and small homebusinesses to start their own companies. The vacant units can also be adapted to provide institutional services such as healthcare, educational services, etc. Expansion of commercial zone and institutional zone would not
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only improve the business and create job opportunities but also enhance the quality of life of people by improving the services. Commercial zone would act as a buffer between industrial and residential areas. Various “Targeted Mortgage Loan Products” have been introduced in the housing market of Detroit to promote home-ownership and support the buyers in purchasing these homes (Urban Institure,2017). In collaboration with flexibility in land-use, such lending programs can help people to buy new homes and use them to boost commerce, trade and provide services in the region. The majority of the vacant housing units are single-family units or low-density housing units. This might be a hindrance in usage of these units as ideal commercial spaces, but they can be tried to be adapted and used temporarily until some savings are made. With outside investment, renovations can be done later in order to make these buildings suitable for being used as commercial or institutional spaces (Phase 2).
5.2.2. Phase 2 (5 -10 years) Phase 2 follows the success of Phase 1 with an expectation of availability of finances and improved scenarios. It involves small-scale and large-scale refurbishing of the existing vacant housing units and lands which were not suitable to be re-used without high investment. Moreover, the strategies in this phase target on generating recreational zones as points of attraction for the city. While, Phase 1 focused only on improving scenarios for the residents, Phase 2 is a step further, which focuses on improving the appeal of the city and making it more attractive not only for the residents but also for the outsiders. Creating recreational districts would make Detroit lively and these districts might also promote tourism. Phase 2 requires investment and efforts from the Municipality to assist the residents in the on-going process of renewal of Detroit.
Figure 9 Proposal : Phase 2
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Generation of Recreational districts and recreational axis The vacant parcels can be renovated and refurbished within minimum budgets such that they become suitable for recreational purposes such as shopping districts, restaurants and food joints, game zones, theatres, etc,. Furthermore, extremely old housing units which are not suitable for occupancy can be converted into museums and can also be preserved as heritage. The zoning is done in such a way that the residential areas have recreational zones in proximity and people do not have to travel long distances to the suburbs for relaxation and entertainment. An axis can be developed connecting the major recreational areas and green pockets and passing through one of the commercial zone of Downtown (as shown in figure 8). This axis would become an important part of the city and promote further development in the future. The creation of recreational districts can be done by a combined effort from Municipality of Detroit, Developers and Corporate firms. The Municipality and corporate firms can work in a joint venture and hence the generated revenue can be shared later. Refurbishment with investment With an expectation of availability of finances, the structures which could not be used in Phase 1 due to degraded quality can be refurbished and used for commercial and institutional purposes. Some of the lending programs such as “Detroit 0% Home Repair Loans Program” offer no interest loans to people for repairs and elimination of safety issues (Urban Institute, 2017). Moreover, the Municipality needs to make policies and offer more support to the residents by initiating possibilities of funding. Many of the vacant plots in Detroit which earlier belonged to the industrial waste sites are unsafe for direct rehabilitation. These plots need cleaning up and rejuvenation which requires a higher budget. Such sites need to be taken care by the Municipality of Detroit.
5.2.3. Phase 3 (7 – 15 years) Future Housing Regeneration Phase 3 involves re-development of the housing units in order to make these areas suitable for living again. The housing units in these areas can be refurbished or demolished and reconstructed into high-rise and furnished apartments suitable for the demand of the housing market. Phase 3 is a more ambitious strategy involving complex decisions. When the situation in Detroit improves such that the Municipality is willing to spend on the regeneration of areas without compromising with the quality, this step can be undertaken. Phase 3 resonates with the current situation in Downtown, where global and local companies are buying land and developing the area independent of the Municipality. The phase 1 suggests actions that can be taken immediately to take advantage of the prevailing scenario and improve the situation of the city of Detroit. The phase 2 is the next step after the Phase 1 is set on track. Phase 2 can also be started sooner and be executed parallelly with Phase 1 if the city of Detroit receives additional funding or there are private parties or developers who offer to buy the land and act upon it. Phase 3 can also be started as and when enough funding is received. How these different strategies solve the problem of vacancy can be found in Appendix. 12 | P a g e 7XX9M0
Figure 10 Proposal : Phase 3
Resistance from the state of Michigan can be expected. As mentioned by Draus et al. (2018), the state prefers to spend the public money only on the selective neighbourhoods which are more active and are less vacant as compared to other neighbourhoods. This is clearly visible from the text by McDonald (2014), how various companies such as “the Kresge Foundation, Invest Detroit, the Detroit Downtown Partnership and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation”, and even more have purchased land in Downtown and transformed it amidst the crisis.
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Figure 11 Existing land-use map, Detroit
Figure 12 Proposed zoning
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6. Conclusion Detroit is one of the shrinking cities facing high rates of vacancy. The decline of the city of Detroit is linked back to its historical dependence on the automotive industry, urban sprawl, unemployment and further with politics and bad governance. Racial segregation and White Flight to the suburbs were other major factors contributing to the high vacancy in the central Detroit. All of these reasons are interconnected and in turn affect the vacancy in the city of Detroit. The vastly spread neighbourhoods throughout the city that once housed the millions of outgrowing populations, now stand vacant. These vacant units and plots are prone to illegal activities and crime and further create a risk factor for the residents. Moreover, these vacant plots have become blight and are found to be unsuitable for the progress of the city of Detroit. While the city of Detroit is proposing on demolitions of these units and regeneration of areas, the strategies mentioned in the report are based on adaptive re-use. The idea is to adapt the existing housing units by changing the land-use of the city. Introducing vast expanse of green areas and expansion of the commercial zone by involving the residents in the transformation process, would not only profits the residents but also save up on the huge amount of money that otherwise would have been used for regeneration of the areas. When a city is shrinking in terms of population, it shrinks regarding economy as well. Huge capital is required for making transformations in a shrinking city and regenerating it for being suitable for the residents. If there is lack in revenue, the path of strategies can be changed, and rather simple ones can be chosen. Some may say demolition of the vacant buildings and making city smaller is a better idea (Hollander,2009). But it is important to realize that not all the buildings are empty in a blight neighbourhood and residents who stay there are as important as residents staying in other “active” neighbourhoods. The strategies thus proposed in the report focus more on re-use and adaptation of highly vacant neighbourhoods instead of demolition and reconstruction. There are certain limitations with using this strategy. While flexible zoning is defined, a network connecting different zones is not designed but is required. Transportation plays a major role in providing connectivity. Installation of proper Public transport to link the zones becomes highly important. Moreover, the age of structure can act as a hindrance in adapting to the building. Most of the housing in Detroit was built before 1950 and is in a rotting condition. Moreover, these structures have not been maintained and therefore have degraded over time. To adapt to these structures might not be easy and may require additional efforts that need to be studies further. The report only focused on conversion of the areas with high vacancy, but the idea of adaptive re-use can be applied to each and every vacant parcel in Detroit. Due to time constraint, a detail analysis of different vacant parcels and their function was not studied, and this can further be researched upon. Detroit is a shrinking city but that is not the end, it is not dead. Through practical solutions and faster responses instead of extreme long-term plans would benefit the citizens more and make Detroit suitable for living again.
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References •
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Bentley, G. C., Mccutcheon, P., Cromley, R. G., & Hanink, D. M. (2015). Race, class, unemployment, and housing vacancies in Detroit: an empirical analysis. Urban Geography, 37(5), 785–800. doi: 10.1080/02723638.2015.1112642 Draus, P., Roddy, J., & Mcduffie, A. (2018). “Its about half and half”: Austerity, possibility and daily life inside a depopulated Detroit neighborhood. City, Culture and Society, 14, 37–46. doi: 10.1016/j.ccs.2018.01.001 Eisinger, P. (2014). Is Detroit Dead? Journal of Urban Affairs, 36(1), 1–12. doi: 10.1111/juaf.12071 Farley, R., Steeh, C., Krysan, M., Jackson, T., & Reeves, K. (1994). Stereotypes and Segregation: Neighborhoods in the Detroit Area. American Journal of Sociology, 100(3), 750–780. doi: 10.1086/230580 Detroit Future City (2012). Land Use Element - The Image of the city. Retrieved from https://detroitfuturecity.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/DFC_LandUse_2nd.pdf Mcdonald, J. F. (2014). What happened to and in Detroit? Urban Studies, 51(16), 3309–3329. doi: 10.1177/0042098013519505 Metzger, K. (2010, October 14). A Contemporary View of the Detroit Region’s History and Demographics | Data Driven Detroit. Retrieved from https://datadrivendetroit.org/files/D3P/LDXXXII_10.pdf Rybczynski , W., & Linneman, P. D. (1999). How to save our shrinking cities . Retrieved from https://commons.wvc.edu/jminharo/pols202/Articles to Choose/How To Save Our Shrinking Cities.pdf Sugrue, T. (2004). From Motor City to Motor Metropolis: How the Automobile Industry Reshaped Urban America. Retrieved November 19, 2019 from: http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Overview/R_Overview4.htm Urban Institute. (2017, March). The Detroit Housing Market. Retrieved from https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/88656/detroit_path_forward_finalized.pdf Weber,P (2013). The rise and fall of Detroit: A Timeline. Retrieved November 19, 2019, from The Week website: https://theweek.com/articles/461968/rise-fall-detroit-timeline Xie, Y., Gong, H., Lan, H., & Zeng, S. (2018). Examining shrinking city of Detroit in the context of sociospatial inequalities. Landscape and Urban Planning, 177, 350–361. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.03.002 Zone Detroit - Mapping and Analysis. (2018, December 12). Retrieved from https://zonedetroit.com/2019/01/09/mapping-analysis/
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List of Figures with Reference Figure 1 Index of Decline of Detroit since 1970 Retrieved from Urban Institute. (2017, March). The Detroit Housing Market. Retrieved from https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/88656/detroit_path_forward_finalized.pdf
Figure 2 . Detroit City Map - Made by author
Figure 3 Housing vacancy rates, Detroit 2010 Refered from datadrivendetroit.org
Figure 4 Percentage of vacant plots, Detroit 2010 Refered from datadrivendetroit.org
Figure 5 Number of Demolitions, Detroit 2010 Refered from datadrivendetroit.org
Figure 6 Existing Land-use Detroit,2018 Refered from Zone Detroit - Mapping and Analysis. (2018, December 12). Retrieved from https://zonedetroit.com/2019/01/09/mapping-analysis/
Figure 7 Locations for interventions- Made by autho
Figure 8 Proposal : Phase 1- Made by author
Figure 9 Proposal : Phase 2- Made by author
Figure 10 Proposal : Phase 3- Made by author
Figure 11 Existing land-use map, Detroit Refered from Zone Detroit - Mapping and Analysis. (2018, December 12). Retrieved from https://zonedetroit.com/2019/01/09/mapping-analysis/
Figure 12 Proposed zoning- Made by author
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Appendix A Main problems causing housing vacancy in central Detroit – 1. Population decline accompanied with new inhabitants not being attracted to the city 2. Racial segregation causing black people concentration in centre “downtown” and white people in outskirts. Hence, vacant plots are not inhabited by people due to racial disparities. 3. Loss of business and unemployment making housing unaffordable. The table further aims to analyse these problems and how the vacant housing buildings and plots can be utilized to solve these issues and improve the condition of vacant buildings in Central Detroit.
General problems causing vacancy Population decline – city no more attractive to new inhabitants
Racial segregation and White flight
Solutions needed Creation of new opportunities for work
Strategies • •
Improved safety and reduced crime
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Provision for recreation
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Improved interaction between people
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Loss of business and unemployment
Provision of public spaces and community spaces
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Improved business opportunities further improving job opportunities
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Provision for tourism
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Refurbishment of vacant housing buildings into offices and work places Provisions for start-ups to rent homes and use them as offices Encouraging re-use of vacant buildings for different purposes in order to keep the buildings functioning continuously Redevelopment of streets Development of parks and green areas especially re-using the lands where demolitions have taken place Converting vacant housing plots to parks Converting vacant neighbourhoods to recreation districts Provision of active city-centres for revival of highly vacant areas Adaptive re-use of vacant housing in different neighbourhoods as public buildings with provisions of supermarkets, restaurants, stores, salons, etc. Expansion of the business district within the land-use Providing vacant buildings and factories to venture new businesses Development of network of city with other cities Conserving the heritage and converting unused old houses and factories into museums
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Appendix B Along with the above general problems, the existing housing condition in Detroit is another factor that adds to housing vacancy. Problems with existing housing Age of structures
Details Old houses unfit for inhabitation on day to day basis
Strategies •
• Old houses too risky for refurbishment Semi-destroyed housing buildings Low quality housing due to old structure
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• • • Lack of housing options and mismatch between supplied housing and demand of housing
Low-valued housing with high property tax More renters than owners
Availability of only singlefamily housing and demand of multi-family homes
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Can be refurbished and used as temporary office or institutional spaces (where people remain for short period of time) Can be adapted to be used as museums Can be conserved as monumental structures Can be preserved as cultural identity and history of Detroit Contracts for refurbishment can be given to organizations or corporations for renovations instead of homeowners renovating themselves Grants and subsides for renovations can be provided to home owners Demolitions of non-repairable housing Building of new housing strategically Extending and renovating these certain percentage of single-family homes into other typologies Construction on new housing typologies such as multi-family homes, intergenerational homes, social housing Giving out pubic contracts and tenders for the renovations of homes (also provides opportunities for work) Provisions for affordable housing in throughout various neighbourhoods
Lack of already renovated homes and move-in ready homes
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Habitable and desirable homes in safe locations expensive High tax bills in relation to low value of homes
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Better tax rates (similar to that in suburbs) making owning house preferable
Expensive home-ownership leading to increased renters
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Lowering the property taxes and limiting the accessed price of homes
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Low rents causing difficulties in maintain units
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Incentives from the government for maintenance of units Increase in rent with overall improved maintenance of the housing units
Appendix C
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