Detroit Past and Present: How Regional Governance Could Restart the Motown Engine

Each year, IMFG awards two fellowships to graduate students at the University of Toronto who are undertaking doctoral or master’s level work in municipal finance and governance. Come learn more about the research of this year’s fellowship winner.

In 2013, Detroit, Michigan became the largest American city to declare bankruptcy. In the policy discussions that followed, two solutions have been largely absent: fiscal equalization and regional governance. This presentation looked at how demographic and industrial shifts in recent decades have impacted equity in municipal service delivery across the Metro Detroit region. Could fiscal equalization narrow the gap between Detroit and its outer suburbs? More broadly, can regional governance help restart the Motown engine?

Zachary Lewsen is an MPP Candidate at the School of Public Policy and Governance (SPPG) at the University of Toronto and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Public Policy and Governance Review. He is the recipient of IMFG’s 2015-16 Graduate Fellowship in Municipal Finance and Governance.