Detroit has had a rough few years: its principal industry, automobiles, has been shrinking and two of its principal players almost disappeared. Housing prices collapsed (two artists created “Ice House Detroit” to dramatize foreclosures there and elsewhere) and the population plummeting.
Now the mayor, working with a group known as Data-Driven Detroit (D3), is planning to make major changes including razing buildings (lots of them) and moving neighborhoods according to a report on NPR. According to D3, “26% of the city’s residential parcels – or 91,000 lots – are now vacant.”
The Detroit Free Press put together a dramatic visual presentation of some highlights from the data analysis including the illustration shown here.
What the mayor has put forth is a bold plan but one sure to run into opposition from people with ties to the status quo. Once again, data will but heads with emotions — and both have a role to play in revitalization.
What is striking from our perspective is how analytical the approach and plan have been. D3 aims to be a comprehensive source of data about Detroit and is open to collaborating with a wide range of entities. The plan which has emerged is interesting in that it deviates so much from typical redevelopment plans that center on a government investment in a major structure — a convention center or stadium, for example — and then a series of deals an incentives to attract private developers to add hotels, retail space, and residences. Detroit is a city on the brink and perhaps that is what inspired people to take a comprehensive macro view and rethink everything.
What do you think? Would you like to see a similar comprehensive, data-driven approach taken to planning in your city?
