Alternative Uses for Vacant Land in Detroit, MI

Detroit is situated in a historically productive lake plain in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern United States. Geographic centrality, access to rail and water transportation, and industrial innovation were responsible for the growth of the central city. Deindustrialization, suburbanization and discrimination were responsible for the decline of the central city. The current state of the economy in the metro Detroit region makes redevelopment of large tracts of vacancy within the city of Detroit economically challenging. Detroit is not alone as an urban area facing the challenges of a shrinking population in a declining economy. The experiences of other shrinking cities illustrate that standard planning approaches may not be functional in situations of decline, and that the generation of alternative responses to these situations is valuable and necessary. The tracts of vacancy in the city of Detroit are currently functioning at some ecological level, but the history of industrial contamination must be addressed in order to limit the effects of the contamination on the ecological systems. Restoration methods operating within a system that has high levels of degradation should integrate methods of remediation. Bioremediation may be among the most plausible remediation approaches in Detroit where money is limited but time is available. A native low input high diversity prairie could operate as a restoration, a form of bioremediation and a source of biomass for the production of cellulosic ethanol. The utilization of a low input high diversity prairie as a source of ethanol biomass could provide an economic pathway for executing landscape change throughout Detroit while not limiting potential pathways of future development. The southern Great Lakes region’s productive soils and history of agriculture support the plausibility of harvesting prairie for biomass. Detroit’s geographic centrality and access to rail and water transport could make it an effective production center to ship or receive large quantities of biomass. Sustainable industrial innovation could stimulate renewed growth within the city of Detroit.Master of Landscape ArchitectureNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60432/1/final_masters_myun.pd