The Plan

In 2010 an ambitious effort to reimagine a better future for one of the world’s most important and storied cities was launched.

Now – after hundreds of meetings, 30,000 conversations, connecting with people over 163,000 times, over 70,000 survey responses and comments from participants, and countless hours spent dissecting and examining critical data about our city – we are proud to present Detroit Future City. Within this document lies a path forward towards realizing the aspirations of an entire city; Within it lies a guide for decision-making that is not exclusively for one entity or one mayor or one generation, but for each of us — and those who come after us — in our roles as citizens, philanthropists, developers, business people, neighborhood champions, parents and beyond.

Ambitious but attainable, Detroit Future City begins to align our assets with opportunity, mapping a framework that best coordinates investment of our resources — people, time, money, brainpower and more –in ways that can move us forward collectively. How to best use our abundance of land (particularly publicly owned land), create job growth and economic prosperity, ensure vibrant neighborhoods, build an infrastructure that serves citizens at a reasonable cost, and maintain a high level of community engagement that is integral to success. and each is addressed with the understanding that in many ways they are all interlinked.

Perhaps most importantly, we understand that this is not the end, but the end of the beginning. We realize that this document is a large body of work that represents over 2-years of conversations and thinking, and it needs to be understood by the various audiences that will use it. We are committed to turning paper and possibilities into action and accomplishment, and have already begun to construct the mechanisms for doing so.

As we move toward implementation of Detroit Future City, Detroit stakeholders will be able to continue to meet with technical experts so they can dive into the portions of the plan that will best amplify work already being done, while aligning it with a broader vision for the city. The creation of a formal organization that can be a champion for Detroit Future City, evolve it as a living document, act as a service provider for anyone that wants to understand and access the plan, and coordinate targeted projects and the partnerships needed to make them happen, is underway. In addition, we are working to identify on-the-ground  pilot projects that can happen quickly and spur bigger things to come.

We are pleased to present and celebrate what’s been accomplished so var, thank the thousands of you who have helped get us here, while looking towards a brighter future that reestablishes Detroit as the center of a vibrant region.

Sincerely,

Detroit Works Long Term Planning Steering Team.