Much like biological organisms, cities experience an endless series of lifecycles. In the current era of globalization, fluctuations in the growth of cities across the world have been more frequent and intense. In an age of improved logistics and ever-advancing technologies, the one-time successful locality does not guarantee the longevity of a city’s prosperity. The growth of cities can no longer simply rely on one singular economic force. The more dominant an economy generator is, the more vulnerable it renders the city in which it resides, from a sustainability perspective. Securing cheaper labor and resources to reduce business’ opportunity costs is standard for all global enterprises. This is why, simultaneous with shrinking post-industrial cities in countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and several Western European nations, there are newly industrialized cities emerging. In the past 30 years, eight major historical cities in the U.S. have experienced severe population loss as job opportunities migrate abroad. This phenomenon not only causes the vacancy rate of properties to sky-rocket, but also greatly increases the poverty levels of these shrinking cities.Our proposed sustainable urbanism is situated in the hard-hit city of Detroit, Michigan, perhaps one of the world’s most quintessential shrinking cities. Accepting the inevitability of city lifecycles, our strategy aims to achieve the following: 1) Minimize the gap between peak and trough moments in the cycle. 2) Shorten the overall period of the lifecycles. 3) Create opportunities for the historically built-up rescources to be redistributed and retrofitted to easily adapt and accommodate the lifestyles of current inhabitants.Our strategy, established around a community-based structure, aims to: 1) Discover the assets in the cities that resemble the common memories2) Consume LOCALLY and return LOCALLY 3) Encourage a sense of ownership among local residents’ learning environment4) Discern demographical disadvantages in individual localities.5) Promote entrepreneurship.6) Create cities that are not only good to work in, but also good to LIVE.7) Enhance interactions both among local residents and visitors. Echoing the global observation set forth in our research, our proposal is also applicable to emerging cities as they rise upon their pure economic advantages for global enterprises. Looking at the evolution of cities at this scale, a strategy of community- based urbanism will accelerate the reinvention of shrinking cities, while prompting emerging cities to preserve their investments over time; therefore achieving a convergence of cities on either track to a sustainable future.
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