Detroit Bird City

Each meadow takes around three years to establish, after which it needs very minimal maintenance. Once fully established, the meadows require far less maintenance than a turf grass lawn, saving Detroit city parks and community members significant time and money. These meadows show an alternative understanding of natural habitat as an aesthetic resource that provides ecological functions such as pollination, stormwater capture, carbon sequestration as well as air and water pollution mitigation. Pathways, benches, and informative signage ensure that the parks appear purposeful, safe, and welcoming. Each Detroit Bird City park is an example of natural habitat as intentional, and inviting, rather than neglected and inaccessible.

The Detroit General Services Department and Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for 308 parks. However, 52 of these parks are not maintained as conventional parks due to budget constraints, and many are indistinguishable from vacant lots. To Detroit residents, these vacant lots and empty parks reinforce feelings of neglect and provide sites for crime, such as trash dumping, arson, and illicit drug use. Residents often spend considerable amounts of their own time and money to maintain these spaces. Of the few studies that have looked at greening efforts and improved safety, all have found that these efforts resulted in fewer gun assaults and total crimes as well as increased feelings of safety. Increased safety can lead to increased usage of green space, lower levels of stress, and increased community cohesion.

It is our intention that these parks serve as a replicable model for sustainable use of land in Detroit and many other post-industrial cities throughout the USA.