a project for cleveland, ohio

Joseph Brookover

Cleveland was the center of steel production in the world during the 1920’s and followed a decline similar to all rust belt cities in the 1970’s as the U.S. economy evolved beyond a basis on manufacturing. Issues of race and poverty have continually affected the city region and development patterns typify those of many former industrial cities: a steady decline of the city center coinciding with growth in second the third ring suburbs - suburbs that are now themselves in decline.

Recent efforts have focused on the revival of the city center yet this is a region filled with opportunity and contradiction. A multi-county ring of metroparks and watersheds surround a river which once caught fire. A (resurgent) downtown with sports venues, museums, and great restaurant scene is ringed by many affluent suburbs where people live. The region holds, respectively, one of the world’s best hospitals, top research universities, and orchestra’s yet a changing economy limits the future economic sustainability of the region. A region made prosperous by immigrants and strong ethnic communities over many generations now sees its youth leaving for new opportunities. Development of the traditional city center neglects new centers and connections to the greater region.

What then are the spatial implications of of understanding and addressing the generic issues across this territory that emerge from particular historic and geographic trajectories? How can a project that acts as a “knowledge producer” emerge that informs specific interventions at local levels? What is the potential does the territory hold to address human and environmental resiliency?