Exploring the Unique Geography of Detroit

One of Detroit’s most defining modern characteristics—and most pressing dilemmas—is its huge amount of neglected and vacant land. New from editors June Manning Thomas and Henco Bekkering, Mapping Detroit: Land, Community, and Shaping a City uses a variety of maps to shed light on how Detroit moved from frontier fort to thriving industrial metropolis to today's high-vacancy city. With contributors ranging from a map archivist and a historian to architects, urban designers, and urban planners, Mapping Detroit brings a unique perspective to the historical causes, contemporary effects, and potential future of Detroit's transformed landscape.

To show how Detroit arrived in its present condition, contributors begin by tracing the city’s beginnings as an agricultural, military, and trade outpost and map both its depopulation and attempts at redevelopment. They move on to discuss particular land-related systems and neighborhood characteristics that encouraged modern social and economic changes and offer case studies of two city neighborhoods—the Brightmoor area and Southwest Detroit. Contributors also consider both the city's ecological assets and its sociological fragmentation to add dimension to the current understanding of its emptiness. The volume's epilogue offers a synopsis of the major points of the 2012 Detroit Future City report, the city's own strategic blueprint for future land use. Containing some of the leading voices on Detroit’s history and future, Mapping Detroit will be informative reading for anyone interested in urban studies, geography, and recent American history.

• María Arquero de Alarcón, Taubman College assistant professor of architecture and urban planning and design
• Henco Bekkering (co-editor), Delft University of Technology professor emeritus of urban design at the School of Architecture
• Robert Fishman, Taubman College professor in architecture and urban planning 
• Lars Graebner, Taubman College assistant professor of practice in architecture
• Joe Grengs, Taubman College associate professor of urban planning
• June Thomas (co-editor), Ph.D., FAICP, Taubman College centennial professor of urban planning