The above video is one in a four part series. It was shot by
an amateur videographer documenting the personal tragedies and physical decay
in Detroit. It has the gritty feel of
Michael
Moore’s film about Flint, Michigan (a city undergoing the same decline as
Detroit)-
Roger and
Me. However it doesn’t have the ‘charm’ of Moore a modern day trickster. The video series’ appeal is the roughness of the video, having elements of
cinéma vérité , and its first person
view. The entire video series can be found at
Detroit Ground
Zero for Economic Collapse on
SuviveAndThriveTV. This is an interesting
group that posts a wide and eclectic collection of videos relating to their
vision of the future. They state on their site:
Survive and Thrive TV is dedicated to sharing this information from our
panel of experts and our members to help others cope with the lifestyle changes
we will face in the future. There
are also some other videos that might be of interest
This blog entry is part of a
‘thread’ contemplating the fate and
implications of the decline of Detroit. It had its start in a blog entry on
The Urban Flâneur Guidebook,
“The
urban flâneur view of urban decay: Detroit”, where I presented a sample of websites that feature
the ‘haunting’ photographs of Detroit.
They are haunting because they are a reminder of a city that was once dynamic,
growing and prosperous—a pinnacle and symbol of Modernism; now is in
ruins.
This is not the first time that major cities have been abandonded (i.e.,
Ephesus, Babylon, Miletus, Ani etc.)
Others have not been abandoned, but have lost their relative importance
as a global economic/political centers (i.e., Istanbul (Constantinopolis),
Vienna, Rome, St. Petersburg, etc.)
While,
some have adapted to economic/political changes (i.e., London, New York, Paris,
etc.)
All these cities have been associated with global
economic and political shifts or globalization. However, in some cases, ther demise was hastened
by losing their raison d'être as in the silting of harbors as in Ephesus and
Miletus. However, globalization and its
effect on the rise/decline of cities did
not arise in the 20
th century. It has been here for thousand of
years.
There are many who have studied globalization and have made
their prognosis.
Thomas Friedman ,a
Neo-Liberal ‘junkie’, believes he (almost) coined the word globalization and
has unraveled for his readers its transformative secret which will result in a
better future.
We all just have to get
onboard. However, It sells books for Mr. Friedman and gives him a lucrative
lecture circuit. The premises of his books appear to be mostly antidotal
interlaced with seleted facts. In his defense, he is a journalist, not a
scientist.
Of course, his ‘shadow nemesis’,
Noam Chomsky views globalization as an imperialist
struggle for control of resources with the ‘puppet masters' being corporations and major world players,
particularly the United States
in modern
times. Here we have two views of globalization, one which presented by Friedman approaches the subject of globalization with a certain Polyanish flair; while Chomsky presents as a drama filled with demons seeking control of the world. Both Freidman and Chomsky pay little attention to the role of cities as
important actors in globlaization.
On another side of the spectrum is
Saskia Sassen who views major world
cities as linchpins in the global economy. And how can we forget
Richard Florida, who
conjectures that cities full of the ‘creative class’ is the new future for the worlds
cities in this era of increasing globalization. (That’s what is wrong with
Detroit, it just didn’t have enough of the ‘creative class.’)
Regardless of these author's slant (or of my opinion),
these authors present interesting views on globalization and some actually
address the role of cities (Sassen, Florida.) All are all worthy of reading
further,as they do introduce some interesting concepts. As intelligent and crtical
thinkers, we must interpret these concepts and derive
our own view of cities in the rapidly globalizing world There is a large literature in these areas,
in this blog entry, I only mentioned a few.
“Popping out” of the vortex of globalization and cities—it
is evident that presently, we are experiencing phenomenal structural change in
the political/economic climate which are affecting cities worldwide which is complex, fractal, chaotic and It is apparent that some politicians and
workers yearn in the U.S. for the return of these days, but as the American
Dream is gone, so is this era of booming factories, high wages for unskilled
labor and dramatic changes in standards of living, at least in the developed
countries. The era which spawned U.S. cities
in the Industrial Era such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburg,
Birmingham etc. and European cites such as Birmingham , Liverpool , Manchester,
Leeds, the Ruhr Valley urban complex, Bilbao, etc. has passed forever. It is
delusional that Detroit or other stagnant former Industrial cities will ever
regain their former status.
In future blog entries, I will present suggested means
Detroit and similar cities can transform themselves.
