I suppose what happened was pretty much what happens to any city when you pull its life-blood manufacturing industry out of it.
Detroit's just a more dramatic example than most as there wasn't really any alternative to replace it, unlike many other cities of similar scale because the motor industry was just such a huge employer and there wasn't really a lot else going on that wasn't directly connected to it.
There were similar situations (although not nearly as dramatic) in some of the cities in the North of England in particular when they lost key manufacturing jobs (especially motor industry and steel etc) although, I think they've recovered a lot more effectively than Detroit has due to heavy intervention to incentivise companies to come in.
That can be quite difficult without major pools of workers who can fill jobs in the kinds of sectors that create them these days like IT and finance.
It's a shame that Detroit ended up in such a mess though as it really was one of the US' grand old cities of the first half of the 20th century and it has such a deep cultural history around Motown music.
It still has a lot of the classic architecture and layout that should mean that it could be transformed into somewhere really great again, but it's going to take a long time I think as at the moment its reputation for crime and violence is really not a good selling point and it's really gone beyond the tipping point at which you see cities starting to get into a vicious cycle where job losses cause poverty and reduce opportunities for the next generation. Crime etc goes up and you frighten off inward investment.
It happens in Europe too, but I think sometimes we are able to lash more state investment in through things like access to university education and stuff like that which can bring places out of the abyss a bit more effectively (although it doesn't always work).
I suppose, it's a case study in why cities need to have a diverse base of industries and not end up being a 'one trick pony' as if your major industry fails or deserts you, you're in BIG trouble.
I wonder though, as barriers to trade are removed will we see most car manufacturing disappearing out of North America, Europe and even Japan entirely?
I could see a lot of car makers seeing places like China as much more cost-effective to build cars in just like electronics and appliance makers have gone already.
From what I can see the main thing keeping car makers in place in Europe is political intervention.[this post was last edited: 12/8/2013-10:02]
Detroit's just a more dramatic example than most as there wasn't really any alternative to replace it, unlike many other cities of similar scale because the motor industry was just such a huge employer and there wasn't really a lot else going on that wasn't directly connected to it.
There were similar situations (although not nearly as dramatic) in some of the cities in the North of England in particular when they lost key manufacturing jobs (especially motor industry and steel etc) although, I think they've recovered a lot more effectively than Detroit has due to heavy intervention to incentivise companies to come in.
That can be quite difficult without major pools of workers who can fill jobs in the kinds of sectors that create them these days like IT and finance.
It's a shame that Detroit ended up in such a mess though as it really was one of the US' grand old cities of the first half of the 20th century and it has such a deep cultural history around Motown music.
It still has a lot of the classic architecture and layout that should mean that it could be transformed into somewhere really great again, but it's going to take a long time I think as at the moment its reputation for crime and violence is really not a good selling point and it's really gone beyond the tipping point at which you see cities starting to get into a vicious cycle where job losses cause poverty and reduce opportunities for the next generation. Crime etc goes up and you frighten off inward investment.
It happens in Europe too, but I think sometimes we are able to lash more state investment in through things like access to university education and stuff like that which can bring places out of the abyss a bit more effectively (although it doesn't always work).
I suppose, it's a case study in why cities need to have a diverse base of industries and not end up being a 'one trick pony' as if your major industry fails or deserts you, you're in BIG trouble.
I wonder though, as barriers to trade are removed will we see most car manufacturing disappearing out of North America, Europe and even Japan entirely?
I could see a lot of car makers seeing places like China as much more cost-effective to build cars in just like electronics and appliance makers have gone already.
From what I can see the main thing keeping car makers in place in Europe is political intervention.[this post was last edited: 12/8/2013-10:02]
