Detroit

Race and Uneven Development

Joe T. Darden
Book Cover

PB: $36.95
EAN: 978-0-87722-776-2
Publication: Aug 90

HC: $39.95
EAN: 978-0-87722-485-3
Publication: Dec 87

Ebook: $36.95
EAN: 978-1-4399-0500-5
Publication:

336 pages
6 x 9
21 tables 9 map(s) 2 figures

Examining the genesis of modern Detroit as a hub of wealth and poverty

Read an excerpt from Chapter 1 (pdf).

Description

Hub of the American auto industry and site of the celebrated Riverfront Renaissance, Detroit is also a city of extraordinary poverty, unemployment, and racial segregation. This duality in one of the mightiest industrial metropolises of twentieth-century North America is the focus of this study. Viewing the Motor City in light of sociology, geography, history, and planning, the authors examine the genesis of modern Detroit. They argue that the current situation of metropolitan Detroit—economic decentralization, chronic racial and class segregation, regional political fragmentation—is a logical result of trends that have gradually escalated throughout the post-World War II era. Examining its recent redevelopment policies and the ensuing political conflicts, Darden, Hill, Thomas, and Thomas, discuss where Detroit has been and where it is going.

Table of Contents

List of Maps, Figures, and Tables Preface: Angles of Vision Series Preface

1. Detroit: An Overview

2. Uneven Development in Metropolitan Detroit The Motor City • One Detroit, Two Detroits, Many Detroits • Coming Full Circle: Renaissance On The Riverfront • Conclusion

3. Patterns of Race and Class Disparity Patterns of Race • Black Protest • Racial Disparity in Social and Economic Life • The Pattern of Race within Detroit, 1940-1980 • The Spatial Distribution of Blacks and Housing Costs, 1960-1980 • The Consequences of Racial Segregation • Differential Patterns of Racial Mobility in the Suburbs • Patterns of Class • Conclusion

4. Interracial Conflict and Cooperation: Housing as a Case Study The Emerging Conflict • Building Barricades vs. Welcoming the Strangers • Building an Interracial Movement for Fair Housing • Suburban Resistance to HUD • Maintaining The Struggle and the Dream • Conclusion

5. City Redevelopment Policies The Detroit Plan and the Problem of Slums • Slum Clearance Through Urban Renewal • Balancing Redevelopment Resources • Conclusion

6. Politics and Policy in Metropolitan Detroit Black Political Power in Detroit • Metropolitan School Desegregation: A Policy Issue • Toward Metropolitan Cooperation • Conclusion

7. What Future for Detroit? Uneven Development • Patterns of Race and Class • Redevelopment Policies • Interracial Conflict and Cooperation • Regional Politics • Guideposts for the Future

Notes Index

About the Author(s)

Joe T. Darden is Dean of Urban Affairs and Professor of Geography and Urban Affairs at Michigan State University.

Richard Child Hill is Professor of Sociology and Urban Affairs at Michigan State University.

June Thomas is Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Urban Affairs at Michigan State University.

Richard Thomas is Associate Professor of History and Urban Affairs at Michigan State University.


Subjects

Sociology
Urban Studies

In the Series