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32 Start with the park CASE STUDY Detroit, Michigan, USA Various locations Construction period Ongoing Use abandoned plots Background In central districts of several North American cities, the decline of industry, dominance of the car, lack of planning controls and flight to the suburbs have left an urban landscape dominated by large areas of vacant lots and shells of buildings. No American city has experienced such an extreme downturn as Detroit. Once the booming centre of global car production, Detroit’s population has fallen from nearly two million in the 1950s to less than one million today. The city now has 40,000 vacant lots, making up around a third of its area. Visitors to inner Detroit are as likely to see vacant lots and empty houses as occupied buildings. The city has been ravaged by depopulation and economic deprivation. Having experienced the failure of wide-scale demolition and top-down, capital-intensive renewal programmes to reverse the decline, local communities have responded radically by reclaiming a series of lots for a range of interim uses, including urban farming. Planning and design The city’s planning department desperately wanted to stabilise the decline and revitalise the downtown area. Between 1970 and 2000, over 150,000 buildings were demolished, and only 3,000 were built. Large commercial developments were built, including the Renaissance Centre, two stadiums and a casino, but the decline continued. Suburban flight continued unabated, with 300,000 homes built outside the city centre between 1970 and 2000. Community groups have used areas of the city for a range of small, community-based activities, including urban farming. So far they have converted seven hectares of unused land into more than 40 community gardens and microfarms. These yield over six tonnes of produce a year, including hay, alfalfa, honey, eggs, milk, beef, flowers, vegetables and herbs. Much of it is produced by volunteers and students, and sold on to other community organisations such as soup kitchens. Abandoned buildings have been converted into community centres, cafés, canneries and greenhouses. Outcomes The urban farming movement in Detroit has inspired community activists in other North American cities to follow similar approaches. In Philadelphia and Chicago urban farms producing flowers and vegetables for restaurants and florists regularly produce a profit. Customers return organic waste to the farm to be composted. Urban agriculture has inspired designers to create mobile modular storage/office/educational space specifically geared towards urban farms. None of the farms in Detroit are yet profitable, but the aim of these projects is to build a sense of community and create productive use from vacant land.
Green spaces in areas undergoing major change 33 Design N/A Partners Community and student groups Lessons learnt • Derelict land in urban areas can be used productively. This can create a focus for rebuilding deprived communities, provide low-cost, healthy food, and develop skills and education • Urban agriculture can be a productive interim use for empty plots that might otherwise turn into dumping grounds. As neighbourhoods are regenerated, land values will increase and sites will be redeveloped. Detroit’s community gardens and microfarms provide a valuable alternative to derelict sites References www.sustainabledetroit.org www.greeningofdetroit.org www.detroitgreenmap.org
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Appendix 97 Glossary A full range o
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Appendix 99 body for protecting and
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Appendix 101 derelict land, revital
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Appendix 103 Awards BRITISH ASSOCIA
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Appendix 105 Image credits p6 Dan B
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Appendix 107 References All CABE pu
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Commission for Architecture & the B
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