De-industrialization crisis

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The term de-industrialization crisis has been used to describe the decline of manufacturing in a number of countries. Another source may list it as a flight of jobs away from a city. Used to describe the decline of Detroit, one writer[who?] insists that de-industrialization was the reason for the loss of jobs in the city. Companies were moving their production to other areas where wages and standards were lower. In addition, the addition of technological inventions that required less manual labor erased many manufacturing jobs. The author of The African American Experience in Cyberspace explains that jobs left cities the moment African Americans arrived. As African Americans began to populate the inner cities, industrial production was moved to rural areas-leaving workers behind. What was happening, the author explains, was that technology was making unskilled labor unneeded, and jobs were being relocated to, not only other areas of the country, but sometimes to third world countries which were far away. Detroit and the auto-industry are highly regarded as the 'perfect' example of what de-industrialization can do to an area and its people. Today the area has many jobless people, a high concentration of poverty, and noticeable racial isolation. When industry was booming and the area was turned into a factory sort of town, things were good for the people and workers. Presently, however, the factories are abandoned or the areas are now prairie lands. Over one third of the residents live below the poverty line.

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[edit] De-industrialization and demographic shifts

The population of the United States has nearly doubled since the 1950s, adding approximately 150 million people. Yet, during this period (1950-2007), the of population of the great manufacturing cities of the northeast have declined significantly in population: Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Buffalo, NY, have all lost nearly half their population in the past half-century. During the 1950s, the nation's twenty largest cities held nearly a fifth of the US population. Today, in 2006, this proportion has dropped to about one tenth of the population.[1]

Many small and mid-sized manufacturing cities in the Manufacturing Belt experience similar fates. For instance the city of Cumberland, Maryland declined from a population of 39,483 in the 1940s to a population of 20,915 in 2005.

As Americans migrated away from the manufacturing centers, they formed sprawling suburbs, and many former small cities such as Phoenix, Arizona have grown tremendously in the last 50 years. For instance, in 2005, Phoenix has added 43,000 people, more than any other city in the US. However, Phoenix was barely in the top 100 cities in 1950 with a ranking of 99th and a population of 107,000. In 2005, the population has grown to 1.5 million, ranking as the fifth largest city in the US.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Stephen Ohlemacher, America's big cities are getting smaller, Associated Press

[edit] Sources

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