Reimagining Detroit - Essay Example

Reimagining Detroit by John Gallagher-Book Review If the censors report is anything to go by, Rust Belt is greatly disadvantaged. Cleveland, Buffalo, Youngstown, and Flint all showed a double-digit percentile population decline; a fall to the lowest level ever witnessed a century ago. The report reveals that Detroit lost more than a quarter of its population. In his book, Reimaging Detroit: Opportunities for Redefining an American City (2010), John Gallagher notes that even though shrinking cities like Detroit are facing devastating challenges, they also have the space and chance of becoming more conducive and greener. The purpose of this paper is to summarize Gallagher’s arguments about what has gone wrong with Detroit, what made it go wrong, and the corrective actions that need to be taken to rectify the situation. A comparison of Detroit’s situation will be made with Dubai city. An analysis of the solutions given by the author to the problems facing Detroit will be also e evaluated. The solutions will be assessed to see if they are applicable to the current problems facing Dubai. One thing that is wrong with Detroit according to Gallagher is that the city is shrinking and losing its former glory. The city is getting depopulated, thus creating a lot of empty spaces (2). Gallagher notes that, at its peak, Detroit was ranked fourth largest city in the U.S. It had numerous factories which were doing so well and its many streets were lined with people and shopping malls. During this time, Detroit was densely populated, segregated, and enjoyed a lot of prosperity. However, all these disappeared as many shops and factories have closed down with many people moving to places with conducive environments for investment and job opportunities. Gallagher attributes this mass migration to many factors such as insecurity, poor governance, and lack of good infrastructural facilities among others. In order to overcome these wrongs and bring back Detroit to its former glory, Gallagher proposes adjusting expectations. In this case, he argues that Detroit residents should stop looking back and accept the situation and work with the city as it is now. To inspire Detroit, Gallagher uses a host of other cities in the U.S. and other countries that have made use of empty space and rebuilt their infrastructures. For instance, he notes that in Seoul, London, and Zurich, streams that were once covered in the sewer system have been harnessed and brought back to the surface, thus improving the environment as well as establishing new parts and developments alongside the water. In San Francisco and Portland, highways that were not needed were removed from the city center, creating room for the neighborhood to reconnect with the waterfront. He also notes that, in Havana, a good network of urban farms initially developed during extreme food shortages, but is now acting as the food basket for Havana, supplying a variety of vegetables and fruits (Neill 648). Gallagher suggests simple interventions for Detroit at the local level. For instance, he notes that one of the wrongs that have scared people and investors away from the city is the fact that the city is dirty and stinky. This is because the city is full of weeds and has poor sewerage system. Therefore, to beautify the city, Gallagher recommends the removal of the weed-choked vacant lots that make the city untidy (28). He recommends the use of Philadelphia Green model: reseed the lots with ground cover or grass, install picket fences and plant trees. His suggestions also include building a good sewerage system to remove the wastes as this will help keep the city clean and attractive to both the people and the investors. Gallagher sees a problem with the roads within the city of Detroit. He notes that the roads are dilapidated and pathetic. Some of the roads in good condition no longer carry the traffic that they used to carry due to the mass exodus of people from the town. He cites the eight-to-ten-lane that longer serves the purpose for which it was designed. Gallagher argues that this can be transformed into a road diet by reducing automotive lanes, developing bicycle lanes, running a transit line at the middle, and creating sidewalks for pedestrians (26). He argues that doing this would make improvements that together would make a change in the feel and look of the neighborhood. The other problem that Gallagher notes is the fact that Detroit city lost its agricultural potential. This created scarcity of food in the city as many people have abandoned farming. This came about as people decided to stop farming, as it seemed to be no longer economically viable. This has, however, changed over time. He notes that since 2000, more than 800 gardens have sought for registration with Detroit Agricultural Network, and numerous large-scale farming organizations are seeking authority approvals. This makes Gallagher see a light at the future of the city. He notes that the benefits of this move would be great at the community level as gardens would help beatify idle lands, bring together neighbors to pursue common goals, and produce healthy food, which has been scarce in the inner city (Wayne State University Press 16). Gallagher cites several advantages associated with urban farming as a solution to most of the problems facing the city of Detroit. Gallagher points out that, at the moment, there are more than 500 acres of community land in the area. Detroit alone has over 40 square miles of idleland, which can be rehabilitated for farming purposes. This will help solve the problem of food shortage that is facing the city (Neill 642). Gallagher is skeptical as to whether urban farming can be profitable. He argues that the best known farms within Detroit are quite small and are only used for subsistence farming. This is a major problem that he sees with Detroit farms. Nevertheless, he notes that to operate profitably, urban farms would require large parcels of uncontaminated land. He argues that this can be found on the outskirts of the city and not at the city center. This reveals how skeptical Gallagher is as to whether Detroit’s food economy will ever match that of Havana (Marotta 75). The other mistake that Gallagher sees with the city of Detroit is the closure of factories (Marotta 76). He argues that, at one time, Detroit was one city with the many industries that served the country in terms of the products they produced. However, this is no longer the case as most of them have closed down either due to mismanagement or lack of resources to keep them operational. He gives an example of the famous Packard plant, which once employed thousands of people in the U.S. but collapsed after the World War II. Most of the factories still stand, trees growing on them and their walls continue to scramble (Gallagher 24). Despite the collapse of these factories, Gallagher is still optimistic and has a solution to the downfall. In this case, he proposes corporation between the public and private sectors to ensure that the factories are revived. He also singles out corruption as a cause of the collapse of some of the factories. To solve this issue, he argues that managers should be ethical in their day to day operations as this will reduce incidences of corruption and funds embezzlements. The other wrong that Gallagher cites of the city is poor housing (Andrews and Roberts 136). He notes that the town has changed over time. Previously, it had good housing structures but now is crammed with wooden shanties which have formed slum. He reveals that most of the wooden houses within the city have been greatly affected by the humid condition of the town that makes the housing structures dump, leading to rotting. This makes the states of these houses dangerous for human habitation. Therefore, he proposes the rehabilitation of the housing units and the building of permanent houses that can withstand humid the city’s humid environment. This would help uplift the living standards of the people living in the area, thus attracting people to the city once again. Do You Think Your Home Community Is Having Problems Similar To Those Of Detroit? Detroit city is unique among the American cities because of its scale of vacancy, that is, the huge patches of rural landscape. This is perhaps the most crucial vacant problem issue in the nation (Gallagher 22). The problem is attributed to a number of reasons. First, when Detroit lost most of its autofactories, it often lost a large chunk of urban landscape instantly. Most of the abandoned factories have grown trees from their rooftops, and the walls are slowly crumbling. In the present day, the landscape is large and numerous. Secondly, the quality of the housing stock was poor. This is attributed to the fact that there was a rapid and enormous emergence of middle-class and working-class houses such that there was no space and time for deliberate planning and construction (Gallagher 24). Detroit is situated in a relatively humid region, alongside the Great Lakes. The humidity does not go well with housed having wooden siding especially in situation where the required maintenance lacks (Gallagher 24). Wet basements are a huge problem in the city. This is because of a dense layer of clay below the soil which does not permit quick percolation of rain and snowmelt. Poverty rates have worsened the situation. On the other hand, arsonists and metal strippers have further worsened the situation. Fourthly, the civic leaders have contributed to vast vacant spaces in the city. They have demolished most of the vacant structures in anticipation for new development, which rarely happens (Gallagher 25). In the case of Dubai, some of the problems like the stability of the ground have left most of the places abandoned. To expand its opportunities for beachfront tourist development, Dubai undertook an extensive engineering project to develop hundreds of artificial islands on its Persian Gulf coastline. The islands were built from sand dug from the floor of the sea and protected from erosion using breakwaters. The islands were molded into recognizable forms such as the two large palm trees, (Earth Observatory 1), and the globe. However, recently, the artificial islands (particularly The World) are falling into the sea. The islands (famously called The World) shaped as the nations of the world are sinking back into the sea (Tyler 1). The islands were projected to be developed with custom-made luxury villas and hotel complexes which were to be sold to millionaires after completion. The navigational channels are silting up and their sands eroding (Spencer 1). The island development, which is located one and a half miles from the mainland, is vacant after the investors who purchased it faced financial downfall after the economic crash. Most of the people have begun withdrawing from the contract with the developers of the island (Daily Mail Reporter 1). It is evident that the stability of the land is a problem for Dubai. Just like Detroit, the land can no longer hold some of the structures due to its instability. In Detroit, there is the problem of humidity, which has made it impossible to build structures with wood sidings. In the case of Dubai, building in the island has become an issue since the navigational channels are silting up and the sand is eroding. Both cities have made the investors to shy away from investing in such ventures. Due to corruption and incompetence, it has become nearly impossible for the city of Detroit to attract investors. No one is willing to make any developments in the vast vacant land. In the case of Dubai, financial crisis and the state of the island have made investors to stop any developments on the island (Gallagher 33). Discuss What You See in His Visions for the Improvement of Detroit’s Fate In Terms Of What Could Benefit Your Community There are a number of ways that Detroit can be assisted to solve its problems and improve its fate. According to Gallagher (34), it is important for the community partners (community development corporations, leaders of neighborhood associations, and other nonprofits) to create a project that advances the community agendas in the neighborhood. He further states that all cities manage their vacant, tax-delinquent, and abandoned properties, and “all cities try to put those parcels back into circulation as quickly as possible, usually by selling them to developers or nonprofit groups or even neighbors who will put the site back onto the tax rolls and into productive use ” (Gallagher 35). In other words, the city of Detroit has to manage the vast vacancy by selling it to non-profits and developers. However, there are problems of incompetence and corruption which have made it impossible to sell land to developers and non-profits. Another problem is the inability of Detroit to tract buildings when they become vacant (Bowman and Pagano 140). Detroit has to have a clearing system for keeping track of the lands sold. Detroit does not issue a clearing title when it sells land. Thus, this forces any neighbor or developer to spend a significant amount of effort in clearing the title before they commit themselves to purchasing the city-owned property (Gallagher 35). Urban agriculture is another method that has been used to solve some of the Detroit’s problems. Advocates of the method indicate that farming within the cities will free them from bondage of corporate greed and bad food (Gallagher 41). On the other hand, others imagine that Detroit will be filled up with wind-whipped wheat in the vast empty spaces. Most of the city planners view the idea of community gardens as a short-term solution to the problem of vacancy. The author views urban agriculture will play a crucial role in the recovery of Detroit city (Gallagher 42). Some of the solutions offered to solve the problem of vacancy in the city of Detroit are applicable in the case of Dubai. Dubai is faced with the problem of sinking island. One of the islands was owned by a businessman who eventually committed suicide after his company collapsed (Daily Mail Reporter 1). Other islands are owned by celebrities (Spencer 1) which presents a major problem in terms of developing the islands. It is important for Dubai to sell the islands to non-profits or developers who can manage the islands very well rather than selling it to businessmen. In other words, investing in developers is the only option that can solve some of the Dubai’s problems. Just like Detroit, Dubai has the potential to change its fate and solve some of its problems. The islands projects and other projects are anticipated to change the future of Dubai. For instance, the Palm Island project (worth US$3 billion) will accommodate hotels, residential houses, and retail and entertainment outlets. There are plans to develop a similar group of artificial islands (200 islands) in the form of a world map. The Dubailand (worth US$6 billion) is one of the largest self-contained tourism projects in the world. Dubailand offers sport, entertainment, and retail attractions. The project is financed mostly by the private sector, both foreign and domestic (Qureshi and Velde 114). Other projects by Dubai include the development of a luxury underwater hotel and an indoor skiing centre called the Dubai Snow World. The luxury underwater hotel will be the first in the world to be constructed and the skiing centre will be the only one in the Gulf region. Dubai Holding is charged will running some of major ventures in Dubai such as the Dubai Internet City, Jumeirah Beach Residence, and Dubailand. Dubai Holding is an organization owned by the Dubai government (Qureshi and Velde 114). Despite the problems facing some of the islands, Dubai has the ability to improve its fate through the solutions offered. Works Cited Andrews, Hazel and Les Roberts. 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Vol. 19, Issue 4, December 1995: 639-653. Print. Qureshi, M. S. and D. W. Velde. Working Smart and Small: The Role of Knowledge-Based and Service Industries Growth Strategies for Small States. London, UK: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2008. Print. Spencer, Richard. “The World Is Sinking: Dubai Islands ‘Falling Into The Sea’.” The Telegraph, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 30 May 2012. Tyler, Elizabeth. “The‘World’ Sinks: Slipping Sands of Time Hit Dubai’sMega Development.” Time NewsFeed, 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 1 June 2012. Wayne State University Press. Reimaging Detroit: Opportunity for Redefining an American City. Detroit, Michigan, 2010. Print. Read More