Urban Shrinkage, Industrial Renewal and Automotive Plants

Description

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 U.S., 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. 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