Urban Shrinkage, Industrial Renewal and Automotive Plants

This book focuses on the relationship between the auto industry and the built environment at multiple scales, a topic of particular interest now as the industry is going through a period of major transformation. Drawing from multiple perspectives, including architecture, urban design and urban planning, the authors examine the changing form of the auto factory itself, the changing geography of auto production, and the challenges faced by communities as the auto plants that once brought them prosperity, and often a sense of identity, leave town. They examine four places that are dealing in different ways, and with varying success, with the aftermath of a decommissioned auto plant in their midst. These are Janesville, Wisconsin, and Willow Run, Michigan, in the United States, and Bochum, Germany, and Genk, Belgium, in Europe. Together these four cases provide some clues about what the future might look like for places that were once intimately connected with the manufacture of cars. Sujata Shetty is Interim Director of the Jack Ford Urban Affairs Center and a Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning, at the University of Toledo, Ohio. Andreas Luescher is a Swiss architect, who is currently Professor and Chair of Architecture and Environmental Design at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 7 List of Figures 9 List of Tables 13 Chapter 1 Introduction 14 Abstract 14 1.1 The Advent of the Automobile 15 1.2 The Evolution of the Auto Industry 17 1.3 Outline of the Book 19 References 20 Chapter 2 Automotive Production and Its Relationship with the Built Environment 22 Abstract 22 2.1 The Changing Geography of the Auto Industry 23 2.2 The Changing Form of the Auto Factory 26 2.3 Challenges at the Local Level 33 References 34 Chapter 3 The Packard Plant as a Testament to Automotive Heritage 37 Abstract 37 3.1 The Packard Plant as a Witness to the Changing Fortunes of the Motor City 39 3.2 The Packard Plant as the Original Auto Industry Model 42 3.3 The Packard Plant’s Lasting Influence 46 3.4 The Packard Plant’s Fate: To Be Repurposed 48 References 58 Chapter 4 To Be or Not to Be an Autotown: Four Case Studies 60 Abstract 60 4.1 Janesville and General Motors: An American Story 64 4.2 Ford Motor Company’s Willow Run Plant: A Symbol of Mass Production 67 4.3 Bochum: Once a Vital General Motors Home in Germany 73 4.4 Ford Motor Company’s Genk: A Symbol of the Belgian-Dutch-German Rust Belt 78 4.5 Answering the Same Big Question Differently 85 References 87 Chapter 5 Strategies to Address Decommissioned Automotive Plants 92 Abstract 92 5.1 Kiss the Good Times Goodbye 93 5.2 Repurposing, Transforming, and Revitalizing 96 5.3 Five Phases in Repurposing the Former Jeep Parkway Site 98 5.3.1 The Brownfield Phase 101 5.3.2 The Infrastructure Phase 102 5.3.3 The Catalytic Agent Phase 103 5.3.4 The Enterprise Zone Phase 104 5.3.5 The Nodes Phase 105 5.3.6 An Alternative Model: Ten Design Strategies for Civic Leaders 106 References 109 Chapter 6 The Future of Automotive Plants 112 Abstract 112 6.1 Gläserne Manufaktur 115 6.2 The Deep South as the Next Auto-manufacturing Hub 116 6.3 Competition and Changing Patterns of Production 118 6.4 The Concept of Clusters 120 6.5 A Time of Change 122 References 125 Index 128 Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Introduction (Andreas Luescher, Sujata Shetty)....Pages 1-8 Automotive Production and Its Relationship with the Built Environment (Andreas Luescher, Sujata Shetty)....Pages 9-23 The Packard Plant as a Testament to Automotive Heritage (Andreas Luescher, Sujata Shetty)....Pages 25-47 To Be or Not to Be an Autotown: Four Case Studies (Andreas Luescher, Sujata Shetty)....Pages 49-80 Strategies to Address Decommissioned Automotive Plants (Andreas Luescher, Sujata Shetty)....Pages 81-100 The Future of Automotive Plants (Andreas Luescher, Sujata Shetty)....Pages 101-116 Back Matter ....Pages 117-118