The Ghost City

The Ghost City

  As a planner, I am concerned about the whole plan of a city if its aggregate planning is appropriate. And I just heard of a news which attracted my eye on it which is the Detroit Bankruptcy. The city of Detroit, Michigan, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy on July 18, 2013.

  In my opinion, the city of Detroit was famous for its automotive industry, and it is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the largest city on the United States-Canada border. 

  Because of the federal bankruptcy, the Detroit became a ghost city with few people lived there. The housing price in this city is extremely low same as the social security. This kind of issue obviously has adverse impact on the whole country's development, and it violates the sustainable development.

  The reasons for abandonment can be defined as the following aspects:

• Economic activity shifting elsewhere
• Human intervention
• Disasters, actual and anticipated
• Disease and contamination

  The city of Detroit became a ghost city because of the economic activities. And I think this is the main cause of forming a ghost city. In China, there are also some ghost area which are caused by the economic activities such as real estate transaction. 

  In many Chinese cities, especially those second-tier cities, the governments do not consider the practical situation of the demand of housing, they just want to gain more political achievements in their official careers, so they construct more houses which exceed the demand of the city. Those houses or apartments are abandoned. 

  This kind of issue is also a result of unsustainable development. This phenomenon is a social issue that impact citizens' daily life. The specific reason why the Detroit bankruptcy is the shortage of manufacture. Without manufacture, people have no chance to get jobs, so they move to another cities to find jobs, the city of Detroit bankruptcy. Similar with the Detroit, Chinese cities which lack the industries providing jobs and necessity of daily life, the city is easier to become a ghost city. Another factor is infrastructure. A developed service system can help to attract people to live in the city and provide a better life quality.

  From the case study of the city of Detroit, the elimination of ghost city is not complex. If the government can provide the factories which means the job opportunities, thus the people can live, the city won't be a ghost city then.

Pictures from the following websites:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/18/detroit-bankruptcy_n_3618572.html

http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1975397_2094492,00.html