Urban Agriculture and the Future of U.S. Rust Belt Cities: The Example of Detroit, Michigan

Keywords: Rust belt, urban agriculture, land vacancy, remote sensing
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Since 1970s, the rust belt cities of US are undergoing through major economic turmoil. Likewise, deindustrialization shattered Detroit, which once was one of the most economically flourished cities. The city has lost its population, property values, jobs, security, urban vibrance etc. Furthermore, large scale depopulation incurred desertification accompanied by increased criminal activities. However, the release of such a vast amount of vacant land can be an opportunity to explore urban agriculture. Urban farming practices can ensure food security and sustainability as well as solve predominant food desert issues. There is a long-standing history of urban agriculture, also the legalization of this land use has accelerated this practice. So, this project has aimed to identify the evolution of urban agriculture in Detroit from 2000 to 2020. Also, future land vacancies and opportunities of urban agriculture will also be examined through this research. To achieve these objectives remote sensing images will be collected from National Agricultural Image Program (NAIP) and information of building demolition will be collected from Detroit Demolition Program. For the recognition of changes in urban agriculture, Object Based Change Detection Technique (OBCD) will be used, and ancillary data will be analyzed to sort out future land vacancy. Through this research the trend of urban farming in Detroit will be acknowledged. Also, the potential land for expanding this practice will also be identified. Furthermore, this research can act as a guideline to other rust belt cities to analyze the potentiality to introduce urban agriculture.