Hannah Marshall L6LK IB-H

DETROIT, MICHIGAN, USA.

Population (yr2000) : 951,270

Est. Population, July 2004 : 900,198 (-5.4% change)
Males – 448,319 (47.1%)
Females – 502,951 (52.9%)

Median resident age: 30.9 years

Median household income: $29,526 (yr2000)
Median house value: $63,600 (year2000)
Mean travel time to work: 28.4 minutes.
Hannah Marshall L6LK IB-H

Detroit, MI MSA Population

and Components of Change
(1999 MSA Definition)

Components of Change
Inter-
Total national Net
% Population Immigra- Domestic
Date Population Change Change Births Deaths tion Migration
1970 4,495,299 - - - - - -
1971 4,520,000 0.5 24,701 - - - -
1972 4,513,000 -0.2 -7,000 - - - -
1973 4,490,400 -0.5 -22,600 - - - -
1974 4,473,000 -0.4 -17,400 - - - -
1975 4,444,300 -0.6 -28,700 - - - -
1976 4,408,800 -0.8 -35,500 - - - -
1977 4,397,200 -0.3 -11,600 - - - -
1978 4,398,200 0.0 1,000 - - - -
1979 4,394,500 -0.1 -3,700 - - - -
1980 4,387,735 -0.2 -6,765 - - - -
1981 4,308,531 -1.8 -79,204 80,632 46,449 - -
1982 4,254,735 -1.2 -53,796 62,211 37,373 - -
1983 4,216,206 -0.9 -38,529 60,565 37,324 - -
1984 4,213,371 -0.1 -2,835 60,258 37,409 - -
1985 4,224,649 0.3 11,278 61,728 37,985 - -
1986 4,247,055 0.5 22,406 62,888 38,872 - -
1987 4,265,993 0.4 18,938 64,598 38,883 - -
1988 4,255,913 -0.2 -10,080 65,407 38,739 - -
1989 4,258,047 0.1 2,134 67,974 38,484 - -
1990 4,266,654 0.2 8,607 53,021 28,602 - -
1991 4,300,800 0.8 34,146 91,376 46,762 4,886 -34,725
1992 4,332,479 0.7 31,679 70,128 37,899 6,341 -26,786
1993 4,354,631 0.5 22,152 67,801 38,380 6,365 -32,553
1994 4,372,551 0.4 17,920 65,574 39,625 5,702 -32,679
1995 4,404,207 0.7 31,656 64,892 38,831 7,083 -20,360
Hannah Marshall L6LK IB-H

1996 4,434,395 0.7 30,188 62,776 38,853 8,616 -20,981

1997 4,439,050 0.1 4,655 62,746 38,881 10,821 -25,906
1998 4,436,918 0.0 -2,132 61,951 39,170 9,412 -30,018
1999 4,439,141 0.1 2,223 62,895 39,775 9,223 -26,996
2000 4,441,551 0.1 2,410 - - - -
2001 4,456,762 0.3 15,211 78,682 49,835 18,386 -30,824
2002 4,457,751 0.0 989 60,521 39,815 14,894 -33,657
2003 4,463,408 0.1 5,657 59,944 39,707 14,169 -27,685
2004 4,464,703 0.0 1,295 60,064 38,888 12,887 -31,542
2005 4,460,753 -0.1 -3,950 59,036 38,636 11,701 -36,385
Source: U.S. Bureau of Census

What is Urbanisation?

Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of people

living in towns and cities.

What causes urbanisation?

Urbanisation occurs because people move from rural areas

to urban areas.

Levels of urbanisation in 1950 and 1990

1950 1990
World 30% 51%
MEDCs 53% 74%
LEDCs 17% 34%

Prior to 1950 the majority of urbanisation occurred in

MEDCs. Rapid urbanisation took place during the period of
industrialisation that took place in Europe and North
America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Many people moved from rural to urban areas to get jobs
in the rapidly expanding industries in many large towns
and cities. Since 1950 urbanisation has slowed in most
MEDCs, and now some of the biggest cities are losing
Hannah Marshall L6LK IB-H

population as people move away from the city to rural

environments. This is known as counter-urbanisation.

Counter-urbanisation

Counter-urbanisation is the movement of people out of

cities, to the surrounding areas. Since 1950 this proccess
has been occurring in MEDCs. There are four main reasons
for counter-urbanisation:

1. The increase in car ownership over the last 40 years

means people are more mobile. This has led to an increase
in commuting. Also, the growth in information technology
(E-mail, faxes and video conferencing) means more people
can work from home.

2. Urban areas are becoming increasing unpleasant place

to live. This is the result of pollution, crime and traffic
congestion.

3. More people tend to move when they retire.

4. New business parks on the edge of cities (on Greenfield

sites) mean people no longer have to travel to the city
centre. People now prefer to live on the outskirts of the
city to be near where they work.

Urban problems in MEDCs

 Urban areas in MEDCs have experienced a range of

problems in recent years. These include:
 Traffic problems. Car ownership and commuting
means an increase in congestion and pollution.
 Decline in industry. As older manufacturing industries
have closed they have left empty, derelict buildings
towards the centre of the city. Modern industries
need more space so tend to locate on the edge of the
city.
 High unemployment in inner city areas (where the
old industries were once located) leads to social
problems.
Hannah Marshall L6LK IB-H

 Changes in shopping have also caused problems. City

centre locations are no longer favoured. There has
been a recent growth in out of town shopping
centres, which has led to the decline of many CBDs
(central business districts).
 COUNTERURBANISATION IN DETROIT.

 As the data from the US census statistics show, the

population of Detroit is decreasing, and this is due to
counter urbanisation, as the population are moving
from the city into rural areas.
 Due to various reasons, such as, an increase in car
ownership, out of town shopping facilities meaning
one doesn’t need to be near the CBD, and people
choosing to leave the city as Detroit is known for a
high crime rate, and also cities are highly polluted,
and people would prefer to live in cleaner more
pleasant areas.

 THE WHITE FLIGHT

 The white population of Detroit began to move away
from the inner city after World War 1, to new
suburban communities.
 Major cities had experienced tight housing markets
during the war years along with an influx of blacks
seeking war work. Whites with the means to leave
did so in some cases to escape the increasing racial
tensions they observed on television news reports of
the volatile Civil rights movement, which generated
crime in inner cities between radical racists and new
black residents, but in other cases simply because
they were promised by real estate agents that
suburban communities, with their new housing stock,
roads and schools, were more desirable places to
live.
 Even those who couldn't afford to leave moved to
transitional housing awaiting affordable prospects in
the newer white enclaves. Most white families found
in the early years that these suburban outposts were
converted farmland, which lacked personality and
services and conveniences of the cities they left, but
were compelled to stay at the behest of their
Hannah Marshall L6LK IB-H

children, who would later spark the new urbanism of

the 1990s.
 Whites quickly took their tax and investment dollars
and services, such as teachers, grocery stores and
clothing retail, with them, abandoning the cities to
the ill-equipped, poorest Americans, black and some
white. With no local jobs or businesses the
neighbourhoods disintegrated and ultimately turned
into increasingly poverty-stricken and crime-ridden
slums with failing and dilapidated public schools.