Garden City Detroit

A great dialogue that happened a few weeks back over at Kaid Benfield's blog at NRDC (read it, the links, and the comments... good stuff) - about the fate and potential for Detroit. Seems that without reading the report - there's a lot of knee-jerk reaction to what has been percieved as 'bulldozing and planting sunflowers' as an urbanist theory. I posted a semi-long response with a wee bit of thought - and thought it a good idea to repost - as it's definitely a very important idea. The following mini-essay is the result.

Garden City Detroit: Landscape Urbanism in Action

"They paved paradise, to put in a 'lifestyle center'..." - adaptation from Joni Mitchell - 'Big Yellow Taxi'



The SDAT for the City of Detroit, was a good process and definitely began to coalesce into a vision - but was also a week long and should definitely not be construed as 'the solution' to what is a complex problem. I am going back to this topic often, as I was left with a permanent imprint from my short time there that is both innate fascination and specifically driven by the completely different nature of Detroit versus Portland in terms of urban evolution and issues.

One of the major points of conversation in the SDAT process was that people were (finally) beginning to acknowledge that the expansive and sprawling growth of the City of Detroit was not ever going rebound in terms of pure economics nor develop in the same way that created to initial urban form. And really this was way pre-recession - not a product of the recent downturn. People were relieved, as years of 'let's get the economy back and we'll be ok' mentality did little to create viable economic change nor good solutions for the City in general. This did acknowledge the urban flight problem, but set the only metric of success as full re-inhabitation, offering little in way of solutions.

Rather than provide a utopian 'garden' in the fabric of this shrinking city (thus my cringing at the analogy to 'english countryside' - the landscape provides a variable and adaptable field for a number of potential uses (to name a few: agriculture, open space, habitat, power generation, new industry, as well as vibrant good development) that were meant to become the next wave of urbanization. We were very specific in not taking any land 'off the table' for future development but rather looking at many empty acres that required infrastructure and upkeep. Agriculture is at best a productive use for land otherwise left fallow - at worst a temporary interim use for land until it is re-inhabited in, hopefully, a better way that takes advantage of good principles and gives people choice and options. If the size of Detroit in population rebounds - it still won't need the sizable urban footprint that it has - but the concentrations of population will provide dense centers. This is why 'urban growth boundaries' isn't appropriate - there's way too much land already.

I know this isn't 'urbanist' thinking but that's the point. The tenets of landscape urbanism, quoting Waldheim: "...describes a disciplinary realignment currently underway in which landscape replaces architecture as the basic building block of contemporary urbanism. For many, across a range of disciplines, landscape has become both the lens through which the contemporary city is represented and the medium through which it is constructed.”

It's changing the way we think of urbanism (especially for traditional planning theorists) and definitely is in need of more discussion, but it sure makes a lot of sense, particularly in Detroit and other shrinking cities. The key is not thinking of the land or buildings for that matter as binary - either development or landscape - but always in flux and in need of intervention and evolution. Sometimes this means protection of cultural and historical resources. Sometimes it means, for lack of a better term, a redo. This is the key to our future - getting out of the idea that one direction leads on a direct and singular path - but that it is constantly forking and twisting to what inevitably will be different and much more wonderful than any planning process, no matter how well thought out, can envision.

Some SDATisfaction

'A Leaner, Greener Detroit: A Report by the American Institute of Architects Sustainable Design Assessment Team' is (finally) available for download. As one of the contributors, it is great to finally see it in living color. Find the link to the final report here...



I will be posting on this after I've had a chance to absorb it all, but a quick perusal shows it hit all the highlights of the SDAT visit for sure. There has been some media about this as well as one of the main goals of the process - a heightened dialogue about the issues at hand.

Growing the Shrinking City

Following up on the proposed plans for the 'shrinking' city of Detroit, I was excited to see this link from City Farmer News announcing plans for Hantz Farms, set to be the 'World's Largest Urban Farm' using a patchwork of vacant lands on the lower east side. John Hantz, CEO of Hantz Farms explains: "Detroit could be the nation’s leading example of urban farming and become a destination for fresh, local and natural foods and become a major part of the green movement,” said Hantz, a Detroit resident. “Hantz Farms will transform this area into a viable, beautiful and sustainable area that will serve the community, increase the tax base, create jobs and greatly improve the quality of life in an area that has experienced a severe decline in population.”


:: image via City Farmer News

The first phase of the project will plant 70 acres of vegetables and could be operational within six months. The farm will be operated by a Detroit resident, Matt Allen, who explains the potential: "The combination of land consolidation, blight removal, conservation of city services and the beautification of the city itself are just some of the byproducts that will come from our commitment to urban farming,” Allen said. “We’re very excited to be able to make strides in helping to make Detroit a progressive, world-class leader in providing fresh, locally grown food that’s safe and purely Detroit.”


:: image via Hantz Farms

I'm so curious to see the actual proposal for the farm, as we definitely explored some of the challenges and issues during the SDAT last fall in doing this. Not easy, but also not hard, given the pattern of development and multiple benefits that can be had from this scale and type of land use. It's great to see the Detroit-driven initiative taking hold and beginning to realize the potential - as I've mentioned, the opportunity for Detroit to redefine urbanism for the 21st Century is there, and it looks like it's starting to take root.


:: image via Hantz Farms

Read more about this proposal at the Hantz Farms website.

Detroit: Urbanist Opportunity

An interesting post via the Sustainable Cities Collective from Kaid Benfield asks the provocative question "Is Detroit (the city) a lost cause environmentally? Altogether?" and again makes me wonder why it is that Detroit seems to always get framed in thoughts of negativity, versus thinking of it as a potential opportunity to redefine the way we think of urban areas. Too often this is the vision - framed in outmigration and decay.


:: image via Sustainable Cities Collective

It is more rare (and refreshing) to see thinking and solutions about positive steps. The first part of the post discusses a post from CoolTown Studios about the Vision for Detroit offers some solid advice about economic redevelopment and investment in public space - from CoolTown Studios:

"1. Build on current solutions such as Detroit’s urban placemaking bright spot, Campus Martius, which has itself attracted $450 million in investment, 300 condos and high tech companies.
2. Follow New York City’s Department of Transportation lead (how ironic, when you think about it) and invest in reinventing Detroit’s urban fabric towards one that actually appeals to people. See image above of the transformation of Manhattan’s Broadway Boulevard.
3. Find a Bart Blatstein and develop a culturally unique destination, like his piazza in Philadelphia surrounded by new condos, offices and local businesses."

While I can't quite figure out everyone's gushing praise for the Philadelphia Piazza as the model (more on this later), I think the idea of significnat public spaces is great. Another link discusses Campus Martius Park a step in the right direction in terms of usable public space that provided incentives for surrounding development. But a single park may catalyze a district, but does not create regeneration on the scale of a city. A consistent series of steps that build on and exploit the existing opportunities (and new ones that come up) will cumulatively impact, in a positive way, the City of Detroit.


:: image via Cooltownstudios

The post goes on to discuss the project from the AIA Sustainable Design Action Team visit and report from Detroit - which I was a part of last fall, and have posted regularly since then (see here, here, here, here, and here) in regards to Detroit and some of the work they are doing. Since that visit, Detroit has been on my mind - remembering both the sadness of decay, as well as the wonderful work happening on all levels. Benfield links to a story on Rooflines, an online publication of the National Housing Institute - of which SDAT leader Alan Mallach has been a researcher for many years.

From the Rooflines post: "By defining the future built-up area of Detroit proper as a series of small urban villages, the planners are talking about a new definition of what a city is. In a place like Detroit, the urban form will exist in two types: the suburbs and the villages. Many people will continue to choose to move out to the suburbs to raise their families and seek their fortunes, while a smaller share will opt for cool city living. (“Cool cities” being the term Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm uses for cities that can attract creative people)"

There is a great link to a story of the SDAT in the Detroit Free Press entitled 'Urban villages in Detroit's future?' that offers some more discussion (and a new and purposely abstracted version of the node diagram we created in the process) that seems to keep popping up as the image to support the story. Interesting story: this diagram was, in my opinon, one of the most provocative and interesting things we produced for the charrette - and that's not only because it was the work of myself and planner Subrata Basu - but that it began to make sense that this would actually make sense and really work on the ground. It was also a hugely radical statement and was close to being nixed from the presentation and report.


:: image via Detroit Free Press

A quote to take home the point: ""In a way, think of it as a 21st-Century version of a traditional country pattern," Mallach said. "You have high-density development on one side of the street and cows on the other, quite literally." The team's recommendations, contained in a draft report by a committee of the American Institute of Architects, are the latest in a flurry of ideas for dealing with Detroit's growing vacancy. Detroit's population is less than half of its 1950s peak, and an estimated 40 square miles of the 139-square-mile city are empty. The committee suggests that Detroit could recreate itself as a 21st-Century version of the English countryside. "Isn't that basically what's happening? Even without any plans or strategies?" Mallach asked." But he added, "It's happening in a sloppy, destructive fashion where you get areas that are essentially abandoned, but they're not useable open space, they're not environmentally sound, so they're basically wasteland."

Not surprisingly, with this level of description, Benfield offers skepticism at this model: "Although intriguing in a utopian sort of way, that sounds like giving up on cities and downtowns altogether in favor of a much more fragmented landscape and pattern of living, resulting in probably even more driving and emissions."

Good point, and I admit Mallach's terminology in the article is even a bit too utopian-sounding for my taste (an English Countryside???) - and misses a good picture of what the solution strived for - a practical and realistic application. We discussed the parallels of the conceptual framework (wheel and radiating spokes - based on the existing Detroit urban form) during the process - but it was interesting to see how this emerged as the right solution. I have my issues with Mallach and the SDAT process we undertook (mostly the lack of visualization and specifics and total lack of desire to actually create anything more than words and charts) but the SDAT solution is not utopian at all, merely a practical recognition and acknowledgement that the idea of population density and the size of urban form is discongruent and needs serious attention.

There actually is a solid, dense core that is working and selected nodes of community around the peripheral edges. The nodes identified are the existing center's of vibrancy, and are not overlaid in some sort of Howard-esque Garden City without regard to context or community. These nodes self-sorted (probably due to socio-economic factors and transportation) and not selected at any particular interval. I think of it as a practical use of utopian ideals that reacted to context. The linking together of these nodes through multi-modal linkages will not cure the driving issues (trust me, we were reminded often of the fact that this is still a car-culture) - but will mitigate, due to choices, some of the auto-centric problems.


:: image via Wayne Bloggers

Shrinking cities are happening all over the world, and present a new opportunity for urban form. The secret is to avoid falling into the trap of the old paradigm and think way outside the box. In this case the box is the sprawling city limits of the city - which can either be viewed as half-empty of half-full (or in this case - full with a lot of opportunities for agriculture, open space, future development and anything else in between). Detroit is poised to be vision and urbanist opportunity to show what can be done - within government, institutions, and community - to quit bitching about the economy and wishing for it all to come back, and start doing something positive.

Speaking Dequindre

Detroit is still on my mind often as I see the duality of ongoing issues and inspirational stories of rebirth. It was great to see news of the recent opening of the Dequindre Cut, a section of abandoned rail line connecting the waterfront to areas of the Central City. I remember the Dequindre fondly, as when we were on the SDAT trip last fall, I got a sneak preview of the trail - and I also had the distinction of pronouncing 'De-quin-dre' wrong, oh lets say half a dozen times (trust me, it's harder than it sounds).






:: images via Detroit Free Press

The initial 1.2 mile stretch is part of a much larger network of greenways and other multi-modal transportation infrastructure as Detroit learns to love it's relationship with the car - but allow other forms of transportation some space in the urban fabric. A map of the new and future system is found below:

:: image via Detroit Free Press

As seen in the photo below, the linear route used to be overgrown with vegetation, which has a certain appeal (although probably not the most safe condition)... and the bike/ped path cleaned up the verges a bit... inevitably with vegetation creeping back in a manageable way. Treehugger had a bit about it with a video as well, which I couldn't get to load... they could have picked a less barren/highway looking photo - but check out the idiotic vitriol in the comment stream that was elicited about this one... interesting.

:: image via Treehugger

The part I like the best, although it's hard to see in the photos above, is that the design didn't just erase all of the history of the corridor (although I wish more of the pioneering veg would have been restored - say, like the High Line). On my visit, we witnessed the overpasses where graffitti was left intact, and some of the old abutments and other structures - rather than being removed, were left as context for the trail (minus bottles and tires...).

:: image via M-bike

:: image via Metropolis

Nice to see it all come together, and the people of Detroit should be proud of this one, and other communities should look to this as a great model.

Delirious Detroit: Land of UnReal Estate

After a brief, work induced break from blogging, I've amassed a collection of posts from Detroit, which seems to be getting a lot of attention of late as perhaps the poster child of urban voids. The report that we worked on in last falls SDAT is slowly nearing publication, so definitely check back here for the full document soon. One of the major themes, obviously, is the rampant deterioration of both community and infrastructure in Detroit. Treehugger offers some more visual clues to the issue - a particularly poignant one being the box elder sapling growing from the detritus inside an abandoned Public School Facility.


:: Detroit Public Schools Book Depository - image via Treehugger

This image gives some clue to the solution - deterioration not equalling death but offering the potential for rebirth and regrowth. The flip side of all this chaos is the move towards positive change. For an ongoing update of some of the current goings on, an interesting blog analyzing the unique Detroit phenonomenon is Detroit UnReal Estate Agency, a collaborative with an aim to: "...produce, collect and inventory information on the 'unreal estate' of Detroit: that is, on the remarkable, distinct, characteristic or subjectively significant sites of urban culture. The project is aimed at new types of urban practices (architectural, artistically, institutional, everyday life, etc) that came into existence, creating a new local ‘normality’ and a new value system in the city of Detroit."


:: image via Detroit UnReal Estate Agency

A recent story on NPR discussed the work of a pair of artists who: "...have been recruiting artists from around the world to buy the foreclosed houses in the neighborhood and rebuild." The low cost of entry and abundance of stock allows for some artistic flair and innovation. A proposed redevelopment aiming to be completely off the grid, is the "Power House Project" From the article: "...they set their sights on the foreclosed house down the street — a working class, wood frame, single family house that was listed for sale for $1,900. The house had been trashed by scrappers who stole everything, including the copper plumbing, radiators and electrical lines... instead of putting it all back and connecting to the grid, we wanted to keep it off the grid and get enough solar and wind turbines and batteries to power this house and power the next-door house."

Read some more about this and the reinhabitation of Detroit at the NY Times.


:: Power House Project - image via NPR

There are no shortage of recent calls from virtually everywhere to 'save' Detroit in a range of potential ways... these range from the practical, as urbanism points out the potential for public-private partnerships. A middle ground perhaps is a proposed high-speed train, seen via The Infrastructurist: "An outfit called Interstate Traveler, LLC is proposing to build an elevated high speed maglev train running between the depopulating metropolis of Detroit and the state capital of Lansing as the first leg of a multi-use national transportation network. The trains would travel at 200 mph along current Interstate rights of way with stations near current highway exits."

Check out this video of the proposal:

And perhaps falling into the outlandish, a proposal to build mobile nuclear reactors, as seen in a fascinating post from Treehugger: "After all, alternative energy is huge now, and in World War II Detroit retooled from cars to tanks in a matter of months. How much of a stretch would it be for them to start churning out these portable nuclear power stations that the Russians used until the unfortunate events at Chernobyl nudged them off the road. This is a TES-3 built on a T10 tank platform, with an 8.8 megawatt output." Yikes!

:: image via Treehugger

A range of other options include a proposal to use Brownfield sites for renewable energy production (via The Dirt); to perhaps the more innovative (yet illegal) ultimate in guerilla gardening, from a post on Where: "We all know Urban Agriculture is the big thing these days, hailed to save our urban youth by offering values, safe havens, and job training. My question is, what will happen to these urban farms when we legalize marijuana. I don't know the answer, and I am not implying there is one answer, I just think it's an incredibly interesting question, and so I thought I would poss (sic) it to the community here at Where. I mean, the inner city has historically been plagued with drug crime and addiction but perhaps the legalization of marijuana could offer a way out? I mean, the urban farms, the knowledge of agriculture is already there, and certainly the abandoned lots are there, and the drug colonies are there. On the other hand, maybe it would be a terrible thing leading people to dependency and bigger addictions. Either way it's a compelling situation to ruminate on. Rustbelt - Weedbelt."


:: Weed City? - image via Where

So what to do with all of these ideas? All of these options and more are on the table and can be your guide to a current competition entitled 'Rouse [D]etroit'.


:: image via Treehugger

"This is an international open ideas competition challenging people to come up with designs that will rouse the city of Detroit and encourage an evolution of our understanding of its unique urban environment. We have studied, examined, photographed, and proposed our ideas many times over, but how can we begin to take action to improve the overall condition of what so many believe to be a modern day ruins? Every city has its history and Detroit is no different, but now it’s our turn to “bounce back” and maybe not in the traditional or conventional way, but in a new, unprecedented way that is specific to the one-of-a-kind condition Detroit presents to us. So the solution too, will be one-of-a-kind specific to our Detroit… let’s see what you’ve got… Ranging from macro to micro, explore all options; this project is not just about the large scheme, but also the small details. We are looking for the most CREATIVE and thoughtful designs that could help Detroit and make it better in some way. The competition does have one condition; the site or sites must be in Detroit. "

The ball is now in your court... submissions are due July 31.

Food for Thought

It's been ages since I've posted anything on urban agriculture, and it's long-overdue... I realize my neglect after spending a bit of time sifting through some research in finishing up the SDAT report text, as well as in preparation for a submittal for the first issue of [bracket] journal with the theme 'On Farming'... which is an open-ended exploration of it's fascinating the preponderance of visions and thinking on urban agriculture - just take a trip through the blogosphere in the past twelve months, and the overload of urban agriculture will quickly sink in.

Another ideas competition from 24-7sandwichshop.org offers some interesting juxtaposed scenery - in this case a feedlot with a family picnic - on their announcement for Food for Thought: "Idea competition inviting you to submit proposals for new ways of providing, presenting and eating food. A new recipe, a new type of restaurant, garden, farm, table, convenience store, city___anything is possible."

:: image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

Back to the profligate nature of urban agriculture in todays thinking... it's interesting to see how much stuff there is out there from the ridiculous to the sublime, from the Haeg to the Despommier - whether research or books or programs or just random thoughts. It's hard to keep up with for sure - not that there is a preponderance of good info - just a lot more agro-noise floating around. Sifting through it and making sense of it is much more difficult. All in all thought - a positive trend.

As usual, there are a bunch of quality posts from the good folks at City Farmer, including this interesting link to a presentation from Dr. Thilak T. Ranasinghe: "...describing the concept of Family Business Garden (FBG) in the field of urban agriculture and the urban-rural continuum in Sri Lanka." A fascinating part is this image of Low/No Space Agriculture Techniques - using what is dubbed 'cultivation structures.'

:: image via City Farmer

There are definitely some vertical gardening inspiration here in these models - using the low-tech to inspire the high-tech. And speaking of 'high-tech', there's plenty of new models coming forth from the Vertical Farm Project, including these new ones called "VF - Type O" by Oliver Foster, from the University of Queensland, Australia.

:: images via Vertical Farm Project

Getting back to the idea of using low-tech to inform the high-tech (or just merely using the insane notion of going back to low-tech...) many countries throughout the world have strong urban agricultural precedents, including recent info from the Philippines, Zambia, the UK, and of course, one of the true models of sustainable urban agriculture - Cuba. A recent article from Havana, via Reuters, is looking into the Cuban resurgence of urban agriculture after successive waves of hurricanes decimated the almost a third of Cuba's plantings.

Via the article: "Around 15 percent of the world’s food is grown in urban areas, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a figure experts expect to increase as food prices rise, urban populations grow and environmental concerns mount. ... Since they sell directly to their communities, city farms don’t depend on transportation and are relatively immune to the volatility of fuel prices, advantages that are only now gaining traction as “eat local” movements in rich countries."


:: image via City Farmer

The key is to utilize as much space as possible for productive uses. "In Cuba, urban gardens have bloomed in vacant lots, alongside parking lots, in the suburbs and even on city rooftops. They sprang from a military plan for Cuba to be self-sufficient in case of war. They were broadened to the general public in response to a food crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s biggest benefactor at the time."

This using of every spot of land allows Cuba to be flexible in adapting to natural disaster and economic downturns, such as when Soviet support diminished and large state-run agricultural programs were not viable due to the high fuel costs. Thus growing food in parking lots and rooftops starts to make financial sense as well. And speaking of rooftops, some new research on hydroponics is coming out of California Polytechnic University, as well as some interesting gardens coming from land-strapped Tokyo - which has been evolving rooftop agriculture to a new degree, for multiple benefits.


:: image via City Farmer

While farming is typically related to production of food - that is only one of the benefits that drives these new rooftop gardens in Japan. One is job production, the farms providing employment for young people that have lost other available means of making a living. Another is the reduction of heat island effect, which is a major driver in green roofs in Japan, so it makes sense that rooftop gardens would be a valuable addition as well. And compared to lower maintenance extensive ecoroof typologies, these urban food gardens may work better, due to a more appropriate type of vegetation. The rooftop shown above, for instance uses sweet potatoes, which are "...particularly good for roof- tops because their wide leaves can cover the whole surface and are efficient at transpiration — evaporating water — which has a cooling effect. The temperature of a roof area not covered by potato leaves was as much as 27 degrees Celsius hotter than an area covered by the leaves..."

These plants are then, yes, harvested and distributed locally, which eases concerns about food safety, uses less fuel, and allows for a true connection to local food, particularly important for a country that imports over 60% of it's food. The future of farming may just be looking up.

:: image via City Farmer

There are also some intriguing new resources out there as well, including some new books. First is called 'Agriculture in Urban Planning' and is edited by Mark Redwood, a senior: "This volume, by the world’s leading experts on urban agriculture, examines concrete strategies to integrate city farming into the urban landscape. Drawing on original field work in cities across the rapidly urbanizing global south, the book examines the contribution of urban agriculture and city farming to livelihoods and food security."


:: image via City Farmer

And an interesting research paper by Adam Brock, called "Room to Grow: Participatory Landscapes and Urban Agriculture at NYU" which has some vital parallels that can inform urban agriculture. Particularly, not a lack of land, but the need for a loosening of central control of property and land: "Techniques such as edible landscaping and distributed gardening further add to the physical potential for urban agriculture on campus. The greatest challenge to cultivation at NYU comes not from the landscape itself, but rather from social forces such as centralized ownership structures and historic preservation."


:: image via City Farmer

And finally, a research report called "Urban Agriculture in Naga City, Philippines - Cultivating Sustainable Livelihoods" prepared by a trio of academics at the University of British Columbia. The report investigates.


:: image via City Farmer

While some of us have probably over-indulged in a literal sense over the holidays, there is plenty of good information out there to feed your brain instead - have seconds... enjoy.

The Detroit Dilemma - Ruminations

I recently finished up the draft text that summarized the land use and open space portions of the Detroit Sustainable Design Assessment Team (AIA SDAT) that I participated in a few months back. It gave me a chance to revisit some of the thinking around my initial thoughts and reactions - with some distance and further reading that has illuminated both the potential of what we proposed, as well as how much we could've/should've done to provide an actual 'vison' for the community.

There has been some more recent coverage of Detroit, mostly focused around the blatant ridiculous giveaway, bailout for the car companies in Detroit - (save the big 3, save the world, right?) One such article, via Bloomberg, mentions the connection between industrial dissipation and the large amount of vacant lands. "GM's Bust Turns Detroit Into Urban Prairie of Vacant-Lot Farms" discusses vacancy, land banking, and urban farming, to name a few items. These photos come from the local group and their vacant farmland Urban Farming.

:: image via Bloomberg News

Some of the highlights of the article align with the common thinking we came up with in the SDAT. A diversified economy, urban agriculture, land banking, reclaiming vacant lands, concentration of resources, and streamlining parks operations. Overall, there is the paradigm shift - the hard thinking that comes from the acknowledgement of a Shrinking City and how to realistically approach change. "Now, business coalitions such as Detroit Renaissance are moving forward with plans to identify neighborhoods where resources should be concentrated and help the area diversify away from cars. The organizations want to use local research hospitals to attract health-care and biotech startups, according to Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance, as well as foster a creative community around the city's legacy of advertising agencies. "

:: image via Bloomberg News

One aspect we discussed was how to spend some money that had been allocated for renewal... not enough to solve problems but to make a real statement. There was definitely a strong desire to make right some of the woes that come with the distributed leftovers of wide-spread vacancy: "On Nov. 25, the City Council passed a Neighborhood Stabilization Plan that seeks $47 million from the federal government to address the city's problem of vacant buildings and empty land. An estimated 55,000 lots are considered unproductive because they bring in no taxes and cost money to maintain. ... The grant would pay for knocking down 2,350 of Detroit's tens of thousands of abandoned homes and clear the sites for development. If no buyers materialize, planners would consider adding the space to public parks or land reserved for recreation or environmental preservation."

We were definitely on the right track, but did we really tell Detroit something they already didn't know. Maybe, maybe not... but it was definitely reinforcing some of the strong trends already in place, for instance the strong push to move urban agriculture from a small scale to a larger scale operation. From Bloomberg: "With enough abandoned lots to fill the city of San Francisco, Motown is 138 square miles divided between expanses of decay and emptiness and tracts of still-functioning communities and commercial areas. Close to six barren acres of an estimated 17,000 have already been turned into 500 "mini- farms,'' demonstrating the lengths to which planners will go to make land productive. ...Harvests are sold in markets or donated to soup kitchens. This year's produce was picked ``quickly because people need food so badly,'' said Sevelle. ...The farms may also raise home values. In many neighborhoods, nearby gardens could add as much as $5,000 to selling prices, said real estate broker Russ Ravary, who works in the city and surrounding suburbs. The average price of a home dropped 55 percent to $18,578 in the first nine months of the year, according to the Detroit Board of Realtors."

Another article from this month in the Detroit Free Press follows a similar theme, 'Acres of barren blocks offer chance to reinvent Detroit' provides some of the same thinking, and specifically relates some of the recommendations of our SDAT. "Earlier this fall, some out-of-town planners recruited by the American Institute of Architects visited Detroit for a brainstorming session. The leader, Alan Mallach, research director of the National Housing Institute in Maplewood, N.J., concluded that Detroit needs no more than about 50 square miles of its land for its current population. The remaining 89 square miles could be used entirely for other purposes, he said. ...Mallach's group liked the suggestion of large-scale commercial farming, both as a way to put the space to good use and to generate new income and jobs for the cash-starved city."

The article paints a similar picture as well: "Detroit, where the population peaked at 2 million in the early 1950s, is home to about 900,000 today and is still losing people. The depopulation and demolition of abandoned properties has left the city dotted with thousands of vacant parcels, ranging from single home lots to open fields of many acres."

:: image via Detroit Free Press

And comes up with some similar thinking: "This abundance of vacant land has people talking about new uses, such as urban farming, reforesting the city, and large-scale recreational areas. Urban farming is getting the most buzz. Michigan State University's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is among the groups touting urban farms as a solution for Detroit's vacant land. ... Given the amount of open land, I think there's a real opportunity for Detroit to provide a significant amount of its fruits and vegetables for its population and the surrounding area," said Mike Hamm, the C.S. Mott Chair of Sustainable Agriculture at MSU."

:: image via Detroit Free Press

There is also the inevitable discussion of the politics of Detroit - which from our experience there, if one of the major sticking points. A quote from some past leadership leaves it open: "If it comes to pass that there is a development that would be in the best interest of the city, then it could always be redeveloped," former Mayor Dennis Archer said last week. "But in the meantime you could have great pocket parks, you could have children understanding how to raise a garden, harvest a fruit, vegetables. Those are invaluable things. I think it has a lot of merit."

An interesting comment was from a group that seemed like a perfect ally to the idea. The group Greening of Detroit was a major informative group in our SDAT process, but the following quote leaves me a bit perplexed: "Ashley Atkinson, director of project development in urban agriculture at the nonprofit Greening of Detroit, supports small family and neighborhood plots of no larger than 3 acres. But she says that commercial farming would exploit Detroiters and their land. Instead, she supports widespread use of open spaces for recreation, hobby gardens and other uses."

It's curious - although I don't want to neglect this viewpoint - the idea that commercial farming would exploit Detroiters and their land is just plain silly. The way to make the endeavor viable and profitable is not 3 acre plots... period. These work for self-sufficent homestead gardens, but not agriculture - and would dissipate the productivity of the land in ways that minimize the overall impact. We're not talking agribusiness, but cooperative and hands-on farming on a scale of 1000+ acres that provides an economy of scale to make it viable economically and provide resilience - without exploitation. It's also clear that residents don't want hobby gardens, recreation, and other uses - because there isn't the economics to maintain them to be safe and workable... I agree that the entire 80 sq.miles is not going to be farmed - the key is a It's a new model, and my only thought is that it would perhaps take away some of the great work that Greening of Detroit is doing - which is flatly not the case. They, and other successful groups in Detroit, are the pioneers that can take the reins and lead the way in making the urban agriculture/productive landscape approach work.

Another part of the article that I was really interested in, was the juxtaposed map of land areas of Boston (49 sq.mi.), Manhattan (23 sq.mi.), and San Francisco (47 sq.mi.) laid neatly within the 139 square mile footprint of the City of Detroit. Prepared by Dan Pitera, a professor of architecture at University of Detroit Mercy and one of the more involved local participants, this really shows an indication of the immensity of the problem.

:: image via Detroit Free Press

Looking at the graphic is staggering. It's one of those simple ways to show a relationship that would make Edward Tufte proud - simple, concise, and totally provocative. It got me thinking about Portland, for instance... and I was literally floored with the information I found that the City of Portland occupied 134 square miles (almost equal to Detroit) and had even less population and density. I was dumbfounded - as you could probably to a same graphic for Portland (and believe me, I will!) - it will blow people away...

The article ends with the big question, and one that means that Detroit may be able to shift from being the poster boy for shrinking urbanism to the one that figured it out. "Whatever happens, clearly Detroit is evolving early in the 21st Century as a sort of blank slate. Instead of looking at shrinkage as a problem, many planners see it as an opportunity. Detroit has a chance to invent an entirely new urban model, they say. Whether it's farming or greenways or a network of thriving urban villages connected by transit lines, the solution could be uniquely Detroit's. And the likelihood is that the rest of the world, already fascinated by Detroit's urban drama, would take notice."

And finally, an amazing resource that I've been trying to track down that has been an amazing find (gotta love Interlibrary Loan...) - 'Stalking Detroit' by Jason Young (editor), Georgia Daskalakis (editor), and Charles Waldheim (editor) is chock full of prescient Landscape Urbanism theory and writings - as well as much more applied thinking that we did in our four days in Detroit.

:: image via TCAUP

From the Univ. of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning site, a quick synopsis: "Published in late 2001, the book subtly blends sixteen stand-alone features with over one hundred color photographs and duotones to bring the reader right to the center of Detroit itself. The energy of its design and in its words articulates the former power of Detroit and questions the myriad revitalization efforts to date."

:: image via TCAUP

And from the books introduction (p.10): "Detroit is the most thoroughly modern city in the world. Modern, not of course for its great works of architecture or its progressive social advancements, but modern in the sense that this city has exemplified the assumptions of enlightened modernity like no other. Among those assumptions was a tacit belief that technological advances stemming from empirical knowledge of the world could necessarily lead to social progress. From our perspective at the turn of the century, Detroit, rather than corroborating modernity's faith in progress through technology, affords an extraordinarily legible example of post-Fordist urbanism and its attendant forms of human subjectivity as shaped by the city's continuously and rapidly transforming economic, social, and operational conditions."

With writings from James Corner, Charles Waldheim, Georgia Daskalakis, Patrik Schumacher and Christian Rogner - amonst others - this tome is worthy of a further exploration once I have a chance to get through it. Now if only I had access to that before heading to Detroit.

The Detroit Dilemma

As mentioned previously, I spent an intensive three-day long whirlwind charrette in Detroit, Michigan as part of on interdisciplinary team for the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program as part of the AIAs Communities by Design Program. This was my first SDAT experience, as well as my first visit to Detroit (short of passing through the airport). In short, it was intense and amazing.


:: Landsat Detroit - image via Wikipedia

For starters, an interesting facet of what the AIA does in this program is to pull together teams that relate to the specific needs of the the project. In this case, our team was led by Alan Mallach, a planner who specializes in revitalization of communities, captured aptly in his book Bringing Buildings Back: From Abandoned Buildings to Community Assets. The team was rounded out with a variety of specialists, including Subrata Basu, architect and planner from Miami Dade County Planning and Zoning; Steven Gazillo, Director of Transportation Planning from URS Corp from Connecticutt; Colin Meehan, renewable energy expert from Environmental Defense Fund in Austin, Texas; Teresa Lynch, economist and Research Director for the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City from Boston; Edwin Marty, Urban Agriculture Specialist and Executive Director of the Jones Valley Urban Farm in Birmingham, Alabama; and myself, representing GreenWorks Landscape Architecture and covering land use and open space.

Then there was Detroit itself, which is faced with a post-industrial situation that is mind-boggling in its scope. Through historical development as a single-industry (auto) and single-land use (typically single family) - the City of Detroit, perhaps more than anywhere else is suffering from the loss of manufacturing, and widescale depopulation, and a preponderance of vacant lands. This has been widely covered throughout, but was quite stunning to see.




:: images via Forgotten Detroit

Imagine this: A city of 2 million folks grew to a land area of around 140 square miles. With economic downturn and white flight to the suburbs the population has shrunk from this number to somewhere around 800,000 persons currently, with a final balancing point around 600,000 people project for 2020. In terms of the future - this means a significant shrinking city, with plenty of land, road capacity, and infrastructure to deal with. What could be a very big headache, can also become a definite opportunity to reinvent the City in a new image.

There isn't just widespread blight... To create a foundation for this new growth, I was surprised by the vitality and vibrance of many areas - perhaps contrasted by the vast tracts of vacant land. Areas of Downtown, Midtown, Mexicantown, New Center, and a sprinkling of neighborhoods throughout Detroit are hanging on due to education, medical, and other industries that are still viable. The Eastern Market was a real treat to see the lively urban agriculture hub operating within the city.


:: Eastern Market - image courtesy of Edwin Marty

And there are vibrant green spaces - include a (reworked) Olmstedian gem- Belle Isle Park (which I got a mere glimpse of) and the front yard of Jack White's old Indian Village home, prior to his exodus to Nashville. Also, there are plans for an extended RiverWalk, and other open spaces throughout the region, including the Inner City Greenway and the Dequinder Cut rail to trail bikeway. That's not to mention the lively Heidelberg Project - which you definitely have to see to believe.


:: image via The Heidelberg Project

The process literally was non-stop - spanning from 8am to 10pm on a typical day (factor in 3 hour time difference), with little time to take a break. This is due to the accelerated nature of the charrette. This process was facilitated expertly by the AIA staff (Erin Simmons and Marcia Garcia) and a team of local experts - who got us up to speed on the issues facing the community. Along with a townhall and a series of focus groups, we got to meet the groups and individuals that are making a difference every day. Our goal was not to tell them what to do... but to give them some outside perspective to confront their issues.

How did we do this? Well, you can see the final report (and I won't be able to capture all of the great info in a short post), but there were a few items I thought had real relevance and life into the future in terms of Detroit becoming a model for Shrinking Cities in the US, using all of the lenses we aimed at the city. There was obviously the need to reinvent new economic models that tap into green manufacturing as well as propping up local business and existing industry. There is also a great opportunity for energy efficiency and production of green power, which could supply and possibly be an export for Michigan, specifically when used for off-short (i.e. Great Lakes wind production).

Culturally there were many opportunities to tap into the cultural history of music and racial integration, as well as using this to sustain urban vitality. From a more physical point of view, the fact that the population of this 'new Detroit' could fit within 50 square miles - leaving 80-90 square miles of 'opportunity area' that could consist of greenways, parkways, and urban agriculture - along with urban reserves. This leaves areas of density - core and urban villages - intertwined with the new fabric of community that is regenerative.


:: Urban Village model - image via SDAT

A big portion of these 'opportunity areas' would become significant portions of urban farming, building on the great urban agriculture movement already in place in Detroit, but ramping this up to an economic and viable commercial scale (remember, 80 sq.mi. is about 50,000 acres - talk about urban ag!). Ideas such as bioremediation, urban forestry to reduce air pollution and heat island, growing sunflowers for biodiesel, biomass production, large scale garden farms, and more - occupying green belts within the city. An amazing proposition.


:: Farmadelphia - image via BLDGBLOG

Another bummer for me was not being able to see Ford's River Rouge plant (next time for sure), although it did offer a viable model for industrial redevelopment along the Detroit river - replacing old industry with more eco-friendly models, as well as retaining the industrial heritage similar to the Post-Industrial Parks in Germany's Emscher River Valley, such as Duisburg Nord.


:: Park Duisburg Nord - image via Archidose

This is a mere glimpse... to be sure. For more, check out our final presentation powerpoint here, and stay tuned for the final report, which will flesh out some of these bullet points and provide a blueprint for local groups to continue their great work in giving the City of Detroit and sustainable and economically viable future.


:: image via AIA SDAT

Overall the SDAT process is a great way to work collaborative with other professionals to look at creative problem solving and testing us to look beyond the obvious to see the potential in all places. There's a limit to how much can be done in 3-4 full days, but that's also part of the fun. There's also a definite arc that these processes take depending on the team and the direction they chose. For instance, I was disappointed that we didn't get to put pencil to paper in coming up with some real ideas in visual form - but due to the scale of the city and the issues - it was determined that any specifics would be seen as outsiders telling a community what to do. I guess I thought that was the whole point? Anyway, it was amazing, and I would do it again in a second. And it's definitely opened my eyes to the potential of Detroit and other Post-Industrial cities... and how landscape urbanism and multi-disciplinary approaches to idea generation will create more applicable and viable solutions.

And, in what seemed like some immediate positive reinforcement - as we set to leave Detroit on Sunday morning, many of us picked up the Sunday New York Times (great for a long plane ride, for the crossword alone). In this issue we saw a very fitting article related to our trip, and not specific to Detroit, very applicable to the city's dilemma. 'A Splash of Green for the Rust Belt' offered a glimmer of a new economy for cities facing the loss of manufacturing and looking to reinvent themselves.


:: Manufacturing Turbine Blades in Iowa - image via NYT

A apt finish to a great week. Look, it may be our future.

L+U