Liquid Planning Detroit

Liquid Planning Detroit

Liquid Planning Detroit fosters the imaginative capacity of visions for Detroit’s future urbanism by understanding the city through the lens of water. Whereas current debate is mired in circular reasoning — the solution to Detroit’s overwhelming vacancy is less vacancy — our work positions the consideration of urban storm water management as a key tool for generative design strategies that encourage nested, scalar approaches and interdisciplinary collaboration.The research brings together regional analyses of the systems of water infrastructure, and the physical, regulatory and cultural forces that shape Detroit’s contemporary urban condition.

The Dequindre Cut (the cut) is an abandoned railway corridor located close to downtown Detroit. This corridor is currently being redeveloped into a pedestrian greenway. The following speculations represent approaches that reconnect conduits to the city through the careful overlap of stormwater management and public space design.