Reclaiming city lots in Detroit for agricultural purposes is nothing new to the Motor City. Since 2003, farm and garden lots in Detroit have grown in number from 80 to over 1,300. These small farming ventures have been implemented by community members and non-profit organizations in an effort to revitalize communities and promote local production of food. Groups like the Garden Resource Program Collaborative help to create community gardening partnerships among city residents, churches, and community organizations throughout the city.
But now the City of Detroit, a business entrepreneur named John Hantz, and a non-profit called Self-Help Addiction, Inc. (SHAR, Inc.) each want to promote urban gardening in Detroit on another level. They want to use it in a private manner as a mechanism for revitalization of the city’s economy, to promote efficient land usage, and to improve Detroit’s national reputation. Detroit is 139 square miles large. It is extremely land extensive and has over 40 square miles of vacant land – the equivalent of about 25,000 acres. That’s enough land to create the kind of large-scale urban agriculture that the three aforementioned entities are seeking.
One issue with the plan, however, is that there are many neighborhoods in Detroit where there is vacant land and a handful of abandoned houses, but in the midst of that blight, there are a few houses where people still live. So the abandoned acreage isn’t purely vacant land. People would have to be displaced in order for the land to be truly vacant and vast enough for large-scale agriculture production. Relocating such residents is actually part of the plan. It is believed that by moving residents out of the weaker neighborhoods and into stronger neighborhoods, it will strengthen the overall viability of the city, while at the same time creating large areas of vacant land that can be turned into cutting-edge urban agricultural landscapes.
Some people will be willing to go, but others feel deeply connected to their homes and neighborhoods, in spite of any blight that may surround them. It is their home, after all. Mayor Bing, in his State of the City speech, assured citizens that they would not be displaced without community input.
Another issue with the big private agriculture plans for Detroit is that the community-based farming initiatives feel threatened by the large-scale privatization of Detroit urban agriculture. But Hantz, who has agreed to invest $30 million into Hantz Farms in Detroit, believes there is plenty of room for the community-based initiatives to continue.
Both of the problems – issues with displacement and issues with the threat to community-based gardens – are indicative of redevelopment in urban centers. You have people who have lived in the city throughout its economic downturn and they have a stake in their neighborhoods and communities. It is challenging to say the least, when development threatens those two things. In this case, however, you have a mayor who is committed to improving the social and economic conditions of the city. Hantz himself actually lives in the city, so he is not an outside entity. And SHAR, Inc. is a long-time city-based organization. So there aren’t really any outside private corporations trying to come in and takeover the land and its resources. Some critics have stated, however, that most of Hantz’s leadership is composed of white men, whereas the general population of Detroit is primarily black. They have also criticized Hantz’s plans as a land-grab.
Redevelopment issues aside, turning vacant parts of Detroit into high-tech, cutting-edge urban agricultural landscapes could have many benefits for the city and its people. For one, it would create many new jobs, which are greatly needed in a city where 27% of the population is unemployed. Second, it would help to replenish the city’s tax-base. As it stands now, the city has a $300 budget deficit. If the urban agriculture ventures could become the niche market that is anticipated, it would greatly help to address the budget deficit. Third, Detroit really does need something positive and fresh to reinvigorate its reputation and its people. For too long now, it has been downtrodden by negative media perceptions.
My only hope is that in the process community members can come together to figure out how to clear the land. Eminent domain can be a very ugly thing, and it would only serve to raise animosities between community members and those who want to create the new agricultural landscapes. Other than that, it seems like a great idea for the D!
