Segregation, Investment and Decline

In the discussion of segregation, investment and decline, the topic of shrinking cities and planning for smart decline calls to mind the relationship of shrinking cities to reclamation of post-industrial landscapes. In many shrinking cities, as Hollander suggests, people are emptying cities, causing a shrink in talents and jobs, leading to economic decline. But in smart city decline, one analyzes the decline as a lifecycle or natural process similar to the human body, where decline occurs and the ability to plan smart decline relies on, "whether residents have access to financial resources within an environment of community control (353)." Due to decline, segregation of resources and investment occur and it is difficult for communities to have access to economic opportunity people are seeking.

Transformation of a post-industrial landscape; Freshkills Park, NY

Landfill 1947

In regard to post-industrial landscapes, the goal of smart planning is to utilize brownfield sites or areas of the city's past industrial relics that are underutilized and do not provide little or no economic benefit. A case study of a post-industrial landscape that was once home to a 1947 landfill in operation until 2001, Freshkills Park in Staten Island was once a site for daily waste disposal of 5 barges with 650 tons of garbage each barge everyday. Although not located in a shrinking city, post-industrial landscapes occur in shrinking cities like Detroit among others. In the discussion of decline, post-industrial landscapes are a part of shrinking cities and the transformation of them into utilized places of production, aesthetics and public participation are a landscape approach to smart decline.

Resources:

Hollander, J.B., and Németh, J. (2011). The bounds of smart decline: a foundational theory for planning shrinking cities. Housing Policy Debate. 21 (3), pp. 349-367.