viernes, junio 25, 2010

Detroit has earned its notorious title as one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. due to a struggling automotive industry, increasingly high unemployment, poverty, race issues, vacant houses, high crime rates and decreased public services. Places where houses, factories and schools were once thriving are left abandoned because only half of the city's original population remains. In the last fifty years, one of the wealthiest cities in America has transformed into one of the most economically and socially challenged. Where residents once had major supermarkets and affordable, healthy dining, now liquor stores sell groceries from behind bullet-proof glass and fast food restaurants, are rampant. However, amidst all this negativity, where the press hangs on every story, the city and its residents have surprisingly emerged with their own solution.With the destruction of so many abandoned homes, nature has taken over and the city is ‘greening’ from within.

Satellite images speak for themselves, more than one third of the city has become green again just as it was before the industrial era. This new landscape is creating opportunities and hope for the city and its residents. Land that was used for farming a century ago has again been cultivated, this time by the urban farmer. The urban farmer turns out, whether out of necessity or not, to have a right to exist. Vacant lots in the heart of the city are being returned to fertile land. Some harvest the crops for their own use, some share with the neighbors or community, while others sell their produce at the market. For instance the bee population, almost extinct in America, is flourishing in Detroit. The extensive variety of native flowers on the vacant lots and the lack of pesticides make Detroit's unique environment perfect for a very pure honey production. In such an impoverished urban environment, it is refreshing to see such ingenuity. This is an image of the Unites States that is rarely shown.


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