Today’s Detroit has come to represent more than a single city in decline. Its abandoned landscape, from formerly majestic public buildings to entirely depopulated neighborhoods, symbolizes the devastation that has followed deindustrialization in former manufacturing centers globally. Detroit’s descent into emergency management and bankruptcy has attracted extensive commentary. This essay reviews three significant recent contributions to this growing literature, in order to evaluate Detroit’s prospects for future revitalization and to identify how analysis of the city’s experiences might contribute to further analysis and policy development.
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