Thoughts on Detroit

Thoughts on Detroit

Decentralization is now the new keyword to reinvent cities. Case in point: Detroit. There are three major factors impacting decentralization in Detroit: the idea of ‘core’ of a city has changed, the scale of decentralization has been extreme in Detroit as well as polarization of living communities (due to ethnicity) in Detroit. While, we have not seen examples of decentralization in other cities which we have studied in class, I can personally say that the latter two ideas hold true for the megaproject I have been studying: Navi Mumbai.

After Detroit went through a disastrous turmoil in 70s and early 80s, flagship projects were made the focus to bring in development. A major initiative done to spur growth was the creation of ‘Empowerment Zone’.  There is more autonomy given to local city governments to formulate their policies. Central planning is also vital for the success of these projects: in this case, it is the SEMCOG. There was also more stress on greater involvement from the local community. Financial support from the central government must also not been forgotten. The only potential drawback by these reforms is the fact that most of them are concentrated in short-term gains rather than having a long-term vision.