Downsizing Detroit: Reshaping Detroit or Reshaping Planning?

Abstract

Detroit has become an emblem of urban and economic decline, with the recent financial crisis intensifying long-standing vulnerabilities. This paper examines the city’s trajectory from two perspectives: first, the reinvention of “city-ness,” questioning what makes Detroit livable and viable after decades of decline and how concepts of density, growth, and urbanity are redefined; and second, the implications for planning, considering the tensions between federal initiatives, uneven local government strategies, and grassroots responses such as urban agriculture. The case highlights how Detroit challenges both the traditional paradigms of the city and the role of planning itself in contexts of deep economic and social crisis.