le M odernization Science News letter Vol.4, No. 2 June 2014 FROM URBANIZATION TO URBAN Special Papers DECAY: THE PROBLEMS OF FROM URBANIZATION TO URBAN DECAY: THE PROBLEMS OF MODERNIZATION, URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION： MODERNIZATION, URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION：THE THE CASE OF DETROIT CASE OF DETROIT …………………………… Jin Feng 2 Jin Feng MODERNIZATION AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE 20TH Lawrence Technology University, USA CENTURY: THE CASE OF ROMANIA……… Catalin Turliuc 11 Modernization, as a process, is usually related to Books…………………………………………………… 23 the processes of urbanization and industrialization. As Kendall (2007) points out, "Urbanization accompanied Papers…………………………………………………… 24 modernization and the rapid process of Sponsor industrialization." The modernization of the developed China Center for Modernization Research country through urbanization, industrialization, and Chinese Academy of Sciences economic policy has benefited these countries Editor‐in‐Chief economically. However these places, more or less, have Chuanqi He (E-mail: [email protected]) also experienced problems that include the growing Editor disparity between the rich and poor, the urban sprawl, Xiaomei Bi (E-mail: [email protected]) the urban center decline, and ecological issues. And along with the development of industrial Contact modernization, the urban population will increase or Email: [email protected] decrease as the relocation of industrial and commercial http://www.modernization.com.cn/Index2.htm investments, associated with urban planning policy. Tel: 8610-62539187, Fax: 8610-62539103 The city of Detroit in the United States is an extreme Address example of the urban problems in the developed world. Room 726, No.33, Beisihuanxilu Zhongguancun, Beijing ……………… PR China, 100190 Continued on p.2. Modernization has been a worldwide phenomenon since 18 th century approximately, and modernization science is an interdisciplinary one dealing with this phenomena. To promote the practice and study on Modernization Science, is both of the opportunity M.S.and Newsletterchallenge. To join the List of MSN, easy and free,1 just e-mail to us, then you willJune receive 2014 MSN continually. Special FROM URBANIZATION TO URBAN DECAY: THE PROBLEMS OF MODERNIZATION, URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION —— THE CASE OF DETROIT Jin Feng Lawrence Technology University, USA Modernization, as a process, is usually related to the processes of urbanization and industrialization. As Kendall (2007) points out, "Urbanization accompanied modernization and the rapid process of industrialization." The modernization of the developed country through urbanization, industrialization, and economic policy has benefited these countries economically. However these places, more or less, have also experienced problems that include the growing disparity between the rich and poor, the urban sprawl, the urban center decline, and ecological issues. And along with the development of industrial modernization, the urban population will increase or decrease as the relocation of industrial and commercial investments, associated with urban planning policy. The city of Detroit in the United States is an extreme example of the urban problems in the developed world. As the capital of the American automotive industry, it enjoyed the economic and cultural development and prosperity, and suffered the most traumatic urban decline and decay. This article will exam the issue of urban decay in the city of Detroit, in order to help us to understand the pitfalls in the process of modernization and urbanization, and avoid similar problems in our cities. 1. The Historical Origin Detroit is located in Southeast Michigan. The Great Lakes provided for the early development of waterway transportation, while the original statewide primeval forest provided natural resources for the early economic development. Historically, the Civic Center in downtown Detroit started as trading post and grew into a frontier military station due to its strategic location. In 1837, when Michigan was admitted to the Union as the twenty-sixth state, Detroit was the largest city and economic center of Michigan. 2. Industrialization and Urbanization With the dawning of the Industrial Age, new products surfaced, and the manufacture of stove M.S. Newsletter 2 June 2014 and kitchen ranges became Detroit's leading industry. With the population rapidly multiplying, communities and businesses were prospering. Ford Motor Company was established in 1903, and the introduction of the assembly line revolutionized the auto industry. Henry Ford and other motor pioneers, William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, Packard, and Walter Chrysler let the world believed that Detroit put America on wheels. In 1908, a passenger car known as Model T was produced in the Ford Motor Company. (Figure 1) This event can be seen as one of the most important historical events in modern time, or even in the history of human civilization, because the use of assembly line marked the beginning of a time of mass-production of industrial products. Henry Ford’s Model T initiated the world's first large-scale production line, thus increasing production efficiency, and accordingly making the car into public life possible. Therefore, we can say that Ford's Model T represents a new advanced mode of production and is the cornerstone of modern life. Understanding the relationship between production and demand, Ford increased the workers’ wages to make it possible for them to own cars. The five dollar daily wage of Ford Motor Company almost doubled the national average pay of that time. This initiative created a new corporate culture, attracting more people to seek job opportunities in Detroit, and also further brought prosperity to the city of Detroit. Detroit has become the world's automotive capital. Figure 1. Henry Ford and Model T1 During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of the city's Gilded Age mansions and buildings arose. Detroit was referred to as the Paris of the West for its architecture, and also for the electrically illuminated Washington Boulevard.2 The rise of the automotive industry led the 1 http://www.solarnavigator.net/automotive_directory/car_images/ford_model_t_henry.jpg 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit June 28, 2013 M.S. Newsletter 3 June 2014 development of urban construction. For instance, the magnificent Cadillac Hotel, built in 1924, reflects the golden age of the scene in Detroit. (Figure 2) During World War II, Detroit played a key role as the nation's "Arsenal of Democracy." Economic growth during the mid-1940s placed Detroit at the forefront of the nation's industrial fields, including salt products, electric refrigeration, seeds, adding machines, stove manufacturing, and of course, automobiles. The world's first urban freeway system below ground level was constructed during this period in Detroit. Industry urged growth during the first half of the 20th century as the city drew tens of thousands of new residents, particularly workers from the Southern states, to become the fourth largest city in the United States. In turn, the city engineers designed a massive freeway system to transport the products of the automobile industry.3 Figure 2. Cadillac Hotel, 1924 3. Decentralization and Suburbanization With the growing of the workforce in the automotive industry, the power of the labor union grew as well. While centralized large-scale industrial production could be very efficient, the system became vulnerable to labor strikes that would give the union too much power. The automotive companies began to decentralize from their city center locations to the suburbs.4 Thereafter, the city's middle-income population began to shift to more suburban locales, and the nation's first shopping mall, Northland Mall, opened in Southfield, a suburban city northeast of downtown Detroit, in 1954. It was the harbinger of the new suburban lifestyle. Large indoor shopping center has become the center of life in the suburbs, while the city center and people's lives gradually lost connection. 3 See website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit June 28, 2013 4 Sugrue, Thomas J. “From Motor City to Motor Metropolis: How the Automobile Industry Reshaped Urban America” http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Overview/R_Overview4.htm. Retrieved June 27, 2013 M.S. Newsletter 4 June 2014 Packard Automotive Plant is a good example showing how a landmark motor plant in the city that had symbolized the glory time of the motor city became abandoned. The plant, with a floor area of 3,500,000-square-foot (325,000 m2), was designed by Albert Kahn, a famous architect, and is located on over 40 acres (0.142 km2) of land on East Grand Boulevard on the city's east side. (Figure 3) It included the first use of reinforced concrete for industrial construction in Detroit.5 The plant was opened in 1903 and at the time was the most modern automobile manufacturing facility. However, the factory complex was closed in 1958, though other businesses operated on the premises or used it for storage until the late 1990s. The popularity of cars changed people's lives, and also changed the city. The Hudson department store, built in 1911 in the central area of the city of Detroit, was closed down in 1983 and it was eventually demolished by implosion in 1998, and it is now ironically a parking garage. (Figure 4)This is related to the construction of a Hudson store in 1954 in Southfield. The suburban store has a large area of parking and is clearly designed for a significantly different lifestyle dependent of cars. The new store location reflected the tendencies of suburbanization. The automobiles and the system of freeways that made suburbanization into reality, and the city's suburbanization made the city center population decline, resulting in the urban decay in the city of Detroit. The final closure of the Hudson department store in downtown Detroit reflects the decline of the downtown area. It symbolizes of the rise and fall of the downtown area. The downtown Hudson department store prospered with the rise of automotive industry, but also lost its vitality because of cars produced by the automotive industry.