Detroit's Mayor Bing has been trying to resume and demolish blighted neighbourhoods as part of his Consolidation Plan, but is being frustrated by speculators controlling hundreds of land parcels across the city. While many ask how eminent domain laws can be used to force the hand of the speculators, Isidoros Kyrlangitses discusses how the Land Bank can be used to redistribute land as leasehold and skirt the problem.
Many governments are encouraging agriculture in urban areas--so long as it doesn't challenge the status quo. Cities must learn to embrace 'urban ag' movements to engage citizens, and the key challenge will be regulation that permits new land uses.
Jay Walljasper takes a tour from one side of a street to another, alarmed that society could allow such disparities that between struggling Detroit and its affluent suburb of Grosse Pointe.
Oli Mould reflects on the tendency for policies that seek to boost a city's ranking on 'creative city' league tables to paper over the people and processes responsible for creativity.
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Mike Duff (Twitter: @MrMikeDuff) is a consultant on strategy, planning and sustainability for cities at WSP, based in London.
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The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
