Urban farming in Detroit

“Every year I’d tell myself it’s going to get better… and, sure enough, it didn’t get better.” – John Hantz – http://www.hantzfarmsdetroit.com/ ... John Hantz, a local resident and successful businessman, has been working since 2009 to develop the world’s largest urban farm in Detroit as a for-profit enterprise. Hantz wants to buy about 140 acres of city-owned land approximately six kilometres from the CBD, in order to plant thousands of hardwood trees. Hantz Farms claims they will improve the area by clearing overgrowth and rubbish and by demolishing abandoned houses which have fallen into disrepair – tasks which the city, facing possible bankruptcy, can little afford to do itself. Yet despite these contributions, persistent questions have been raised about whether the project is really about helping the community, beautifying the city, or simply generating personal wealth...  It remains to be seen if this is a vision that can help Detroit to address its challenges, and it certainly runs counter to some of the more collective, collaborative approaches proposed in recent years. Hantz himself is fine with this mix of methods; in his view, Detroiters “have so many opportunities with the issues we face that we could try every idea.” having recently approved his proposal, it seems Hantz will now get to test the idea he hopes will be a “game changer” for Detroit"... click here to read the entire article

AUTHORS: 

• Laura Crommelin PhD candidate, Faculty of Built Environment at University of New South Wales
• Christine Steinmetz Lecturer in Built Environment at University of New South Wales