The city they had to move
Its mine brought wealth to Kiruna, in Northern Sweden. Now it is killing it from beneath. Kiruna’s time is up. So one man must relocate it.
Popularity: 17% [?]
urbanism.org
Urban news [almost] daily.Archive for Shrinking Cities
US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive
Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic “shrink to survive” proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Should We Abandon the “Uncreative Class”?
What would you do if you were the mayor of Detroit? Right now entrepreneurial urbanists in Detroit and other rust belt cities are by necessity re-envisioning their urban milieus, trying to make them greener, more creative, more prosperous places. There are pockets of success here and there, but the scary part is that all of this re-imagining might not matter. Given the rate of industrial decline, it would seem that distant global forces are shaping urban landscapes in ways that are as stoppable for urban planners as the weather.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Why Has Globalization Led to Bigger Cities?
If the world is so flat, then why are cities growing so quickly, especially in the third world?
One might have thought that striking declines in the costs of shipping goods and communicating knowledge across space would have led to a great dispersal of population. After all, it is at least technically possible to telecommute over great distances. Yet the share of the world living in urbanized areas increased from 40.9 percent in 1985 to more than 50 percent today.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Urban villages in Detroit’s future?
In a new vision of Detroit’s future, a team of visiting urban planners suggests the city might one day resemble the English countryside, with distinct urban villages surrounded by farms, fields and meadows.
The idea may sound improbable, but Alan Mallach, a New Jersey-based planner who led the visiting team, said Detroit is evolving in that direction anyway, with large chunks of the city now largely abandoned.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Detroit UnReal Estate Agency
Henry Ford famously pronounced the demise of the city early on in the history of the auto industry: “we shall solve the city problem by leaving the city”. Nowhere is this process more pronounced than in the Windsor neighborhood that bears his name: Ford Town (now Ford City).
Popularity: 8% [?]
The Suburban Bulldozer
Amazing video of brand new suburban homes being razed by bulldozer. Apparently, Guaranty Bank of Austin took over the homes in foreclosure – four in a suburban Texas development and another 12 in one suburb in California – and is knocking them down ostensibly to promote a “safe environment” for neighbors, and more likely because it is cheaper to destroy them them to keep them on their books.
Popularity: 10% [?]
America’s Abandoned Cities
Flint Michigan typifies the plight of inner city urban decay. Inquiring minds are wondering what if anything can be done. MLive explores that issue in an article discussing what to do with abandoned neighborhoods in Flint.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Can Public-Private Partnerships Save Detroit?
The mood toward public-private partnerships in Michigan does seem to be changing. The state held its inaugural PPP summit in September 2008. Attendees at the Detroit meeting included representatives from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 324 and private-equity firm Macquarie Capital. And at the end of last year, Michigan set up its first office of public-private partnerships.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Foreclosure Trash-Out: Ill Fortune and Its Leavings
AT 6:30 on a Wednesday morning in February, James Brewer backed a pickup truck with a trailer into the driveway of a one-story beige house in a new subdivision called Murrieta Oaks and looked down at the day’s first work order.
“It’s 10 cubic yards interior, 5 exterior,” he told his three-man crew as they climbed out of the truck and pulled on canvas gloves. Within a minute, the four men had fanned out across the property.
Popularity: 10% [?]