REMEMBER DETROIT — ALINE MAUCH

As a result of economic structural changes in the auto industry, a continuing decline occurred in the second half of the 20th century. The city continues to experience an enormous concentration of unemployment, poverty and crime. This development was further depressed by the bankruptcy of General Motors in June 2009 and the financial bankruptcy of the city in July 2013. Detroit has lost about two-thirds of its population since the end of the 1960s - 40% of road lights no longer shine.

The city, which in the times a million people more accustomed, is instead filled with empty houses and shops. Despite the widespread "urban revitalization process", which only affects the central city center, Detroit is still in disorder - a partial ghost town. It is hard to believe that this was a major American city years ago - a shining example of the American middle class and a prosperous epicenter of industry and creativity: automotive engineering and "Motown", the legendary record company.

I am inspired by this city, which has a high crime rate as well as a poorly equipped education system and produces great poverty. At the same time, however, a place where the contradiction between the beauty of decay and the emancipatory aspect of the alternative is revealed. No matter how precariously the situation of the people living here is, they are still alive. It is a great city that suffers and yet has preserved its soul.

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