How We Live: A Critical Analysis on Revitalization, Gentrification, and the Single Family Home From the Lens of Detroit's Culture, Spirit, and Historical Context

Abstract

This thesis seeks to deconstruct the complexity and shortcomings of affordable residential development in Detroit. In turn, this thesis fleshes out a proposal for a framework for equitable single family housing under these circumstances through the use of efficient, modern renovation and construction and policies derived from Community Land Trusts. The historical context of Detroit is complex, and changes depending on your perspective, but it can be assumed that it is met within an intersection between the “rise and fall” narrative and the culture of its inhabitants. Where the narrative of Detroit became stigmatized in ruin, there still existed an incumbent population that experienced Detroit as their home. It is for those people in which this thesis caters to. To deconstruct urban renewal to its essence, one must determine its general intentions, how it benefits the incumbent community, and how it might damage it. What explicitly are the causes of gentrification, and how has urban renewal in other cities coped with this issue? What places would benefit most from new equitable developments? And is there an intervention that can be applied in Detroit that gives people ownership over their property that’s competitive with modern renting? Mapping and site studies as well as a study of Detroit’s housing vernacular inform the ideals of this thesis to see if equitable housing is feasible according to the current standard of rent housing. The site chosen to stage an intervention was Mt Olivet, West of the Mt Olivet Cemetery. The equitable prospects of a community land trust in tandem with proposals for salvaged homes and new developments can be competitive in terms of cost to prospective owners and protect the value of the surrounding area. This proposal could provide a framework to transition a renting population to one of ownership and generational wealth.