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Population loss driven by changing economic circumstances means thatDetroit’s urban structure is no longeraligned to the city’s requirements. Thecosts of maintaining the city and itssystems which were designed for 1.8million people have been rising steadily.Meanwhile the revenues to meet thosecosts, drawn from a reduced populationof less than 0.7 million people, have fallensharply. Faced with this mismatch, publicand private sector agencies have oftenbeen unable to reinvest adequately ininfrastructure or to deliver services to anacceptable level.

The Detroit Works Project was initiated in 2010 to underpin the resurgence of Detroit and has focused on identifying an integrated economic, land use, environmental and systems strategy to support long term transformation. Deploying our experience of infrastructure and strategic planning as part of the

multidisciplinary Detroit Works technical team, BuroHappold Engineering has been instrumental in first strategizing how to re- configure the city for a smaller population and a fundamentally different economic geography, and then determining how this could be achieved against the backdrop of continued shortage in funds for investment and a fundamentally depleted level of capacity in the public sector.

The project has been heavily focused on engaging with communities as well as delivery agencies, for the duration of the process. We built our population and systems models from scratch, based on data sets collected through discussion with each of the city’s public and private service providers and a wide range of community groups.

In 2013, the technical team delivered the Detroit Future City Plan – designed to guide the city towards more competitive economic performance and higher quality

DE TROIT FUTURE CIT YUSA

A B E T T E R F U T U R E F O R A M A J O R P O S T - I N D U S T R I A L C I T Y

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Economic Growth Corporation

CLIEN T Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC)

SERV ICES PROV IDED BY BURO HAPPO LD Strategic planning, transport and mobility, environmental consultancy, sustainability, infrastructure and utilities engineering, strategic planning, Risk and Resilience

Copyright © 1976-2015 BuroHappold Engineering. All Rights Reserved

of life, while also facilitating lower running costs. The plan defined a three-part strategy that drives consolidation of employment into centers for growth, establishes stabilized neighborhoods and transforms high vacancy land using pro-growth interventions. The plan also established the mix of knowledge and industrial sectors that will provide the economic future for the city.

A central aspect of the delivery solution involved the establishment of an independent Program Management Office (PMO) that could work collaboratively with the city government while drawing down on private sector or philanthropic funding. The PMO has been staffed by individuals with a mix of public and private sector backgrounds, making it better suited to driving change with the full spectrum of multi-agency stakeholders. BuroHappold has provided a wide range of support services to the PMO since its establishment. At the appropriate time, when the city administration has stabilized, it is likely that several of the functions delivered by the PMO will be adopted by the city government.

Photo: Justin Maconochie

Image © BuroHappold Engineering / Detroit

Economic Growth Corporation