It is prettty much a fact of life that not all cities can be growing. While some cities may have a growing economy and a great influx of young, talented people moving there, this usually means that somewhere out there another city is suffering a decline. Of course many cities try to fight this decline with new development, gentrification or a boost in order ways, often with no real results to show for their efforts. Yet, a man by the name of Dan Kildee, who is treasurer of Genesee County which includes the city of Flint, Michigan has a very different idea. Rather than fight what is happening, Kildee wants to contract the cities and bulldoze the deserted areas returning them back to nature.
Kildee introduced the idea in his home city of Flint, yet there has now been interest from the US government, including Barack Obama himself. Kildee’s plan will involve 50 cities including some of the obivous suspects (such as Detroit). While many may find this idea as a sign of weakness or giving up, it seems to be more beneficial and cost effective than throwing money at something that may never work. And while it may seem a bit radical, now may be the very best time to really make it a reality. You check out the article by Telegraph.co.uk which goes into more detail here: U.S. Cites may have to be bulldozed in order to survive
We don’t hold city to ransom. The primate character of the cities trend to decline as region grows. As in regional framework it is going to happen to small and medium settlements. In India, we have villages emptying because of growth of towns of all sizes in most of the states. In US the problem, is rather serious, if we all know reasons of decline and how to bring back the equity in settlements. Else you would find the economy in doldrums in coming decades. Instead of restoring the physical condition, restore the social fabric, bring back the migrants, see what they would like to have in order to stay back in cities. Folks we need to go back to basics.
All the best