Detroit_Link

Abstract

The decentralization of many metropolises began decades ago when people began moving from the city center to suburban areas. This effectively reduced the number of people concentrated in one area in case of nuclear war, and it became cheaper to live in the suburbs as jobs began moving outside the city, thus provoking movement. One of the biggest killers of the metropolis was the interstate highway and the mass-produced, independence-providing automobile. The automobile soon replaced motorized and non-motorized mass transit, and sprawling suburbs soon replaced dense urban development. Once these causes and effects of urban flight on the metropolis have been analyzed, then a master plan can be developed and implemented which will repopulate and revitalize our urban centers. As the automobile became more popular and streets became increasingly congested, highways were the logical solution. This was thought to bring the people back into the city, but instead it took them out of the city even faster. The city of Detroit saw its population peak in the mid 1950’s and then saw a rapid decline. Once around two-million inhabitants, it has lost over half of them and sits around nine-hundred thousand. The suburbs have seen a boom in population, gaining most of what the city lost. Today there is quite a disconnect between city and suburbs, not only between the physical appearance, but also within the population itself. There are some racial tensions and economic battles that the city faces, differences which are easily noticed when crossing from city into suburb. How do we go about re-connecting the city and suburbs? The key to revitalization will be reuniting the city and suburb in spirit and developing a better physical relationship between the two entities. Before the relationship of city and suburb can be mended however, first the city itself must be connected and reunited. Community involvement and interaction across Detroit is vital to its redevelopment. A stimulant for development and an element of unity within Detroit could be public mass transit. The system would link the pockets of dense population that currently exist. The existing bus system is unreliable, is not user friendly, and does not feel safe. Ideally the current bus system would be improved and then a light rail system could be implemented. Improving the mass transit system would hopefully create a denser urban environment and a stronger community. In order for people to interact throughout the city and eventually the suburbs, a link must be developed between the transit and station architecture on a personal scale. One way to create interaction is by providing a space at each bus stop or rail station for an art installation. These constantly changing and moving installations could all be done by local area artists. The stops could become a point of community interaction and a feature destination instead of passive architecture by incorporating a recycling center into them as well. The architecture of the stations would be interactive for the mass transit passengers and the public as well.