Starting Over and Institutionalizing Green Infrastructure in Detroit

Detroit is a city in flux and is experiencing a rebirth in many important ways. In the City’s heyday, 1.8 million people lived and worked in Detroit. Today, less than half that number call Detroit home. Another noteworthy reduction has happened in recent years as well – the City has reduced the amount of combined sewage discharged into local rivers by 95 percent through billions of dollars of investment. To achieve the final required five percent via traditional means would have cost another billion dollars so the city is trying to achieve these results through green infrastructure instead (Kinney, 2016). There is immense opportunity, interest and motivation to leverage this investment to implement green infrastructure practices that improve social, environmental and economic conditions in the city. This paper will summarize the work Detroit is doing to improve their triple bottom line by investing in and institutionalizing the natural processes of soils and plants.