The Catastrophic Journey of Detroit: A Shrinking City

Detroit exemplifies the stark reality of a shrinking city, having lost over 60% of its population in the last 60 years. Once a booming metropolis with a peak population of nearly 1.85 million in 1950, Detroit became the richest metro area in the United States, largely due to industrial wealth. However, by 2015, its population had dwindled to around 680,000, accompanied by a poverty rate of 40%. The demographic shift also saw the Black population rise from 16% in 1950 to 82% in 2010, a consequence of the Great Migration from the Jim Crow South amid anti-Black racism and housing discrimination. The city's decline was marked by deindustrialization, economic strife, and culminated in 2013's municipal bankruptcy—the largest in U.S. history—leading to essential services being severely cut. Urban planning efforts turned to demolishing vacant structures in a landscape marked by economic and social desolation, often described through the lens of urban decay. While Detroit has shown signs of recovery with population stabilization and a decrease in poverty, it remains a paradigm of urban disaster, exacerbated by historical racial tensions and socio-political upheaval since the 1960s. The narrative of Detroit is not one of smooth transition, but rather a chronicling of a severe urban crisis and transformation.