Urban decayUrban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. Urban decay can include the following aspects: Industrialization Deindustrialization Gentrification Population decline or overpopulation Counterurbanization Economic Restructuring Multiculturalism Abandoned buildings or infrastructure High local unemployment Increased poverty Fragmented families Low overall living standards or quality of life Political disenfranchisement Crime (e.
DeindustrializationDeindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpretations of what deindustrialization is. Many associate American deindustrialization with the mass closing of automaker plants in the now so-called Rust Belt between 1980 and 1990. The US Federal Reserve raised interest and exchange rates beginning in 1979, and continuing until 1984, which automatically caused import prices to fall.
Rust BeltThe Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and cities primarily in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S., including Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Jersey City, Newark, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Toledo, Trenton, Youngstown, and other areas of New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Upstate New York.
GhettoA ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other areas of the city. Versions of the ghetto appear across the world, each with their own names, classifications, and groupings of people.The term was originally used for the Venetian Ghetto in Venice, Italy, as early as 1516, to describe the part of the city where Jewish people were restricted to live and thus segregated from other people.
CityA city is a human settlement of a notable size. It can be defined as a permanent and densely settled place with administratively defined boundaries whose members work primarily on non-agricultural tasks. Cities generally have extensive systems for housing, transportation, sanitation, utilities, land use, production of goods, and communication. Their density facilitates interaction between people, government organizations, and businesses, sometimes benefiting different parties in the process, such as improving the efficiency of goods and service distribution.
DetroitDetroit (dɪˈtrɔɪt , ˈdiːtrɔɪt) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the most populous U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the United States. The metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area, and the 14th-largest metropolitan area in the nation.
Toledo, OhioToledo (təˈliːdoʊ ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 270,871, making Toledo the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Toledo is also the 79th-largest city in the United States. It is the principal city of the Toledo metropolitan area, which had 646,604 residents in 2020. Toledo also serves as a major trade center for the Midwest; its port is the fifth-busiest on the Great Lakes.