Practically any automobile enthusiast is familiar with Detroit, the American metropolis between Lake Eerie and Lake St. Clair. From Detroit the Big Three, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, dominate the automotive world until far into the 20th century. In Detroit, in 1913, Henry Ford makes industrial history by introducing mass production of the Ford Model T on a moving assembly line. In Detroit, tens of thousands of immigrants from Europe in search of work arrive at Michigan Central Station that was completed in 1913 (see infobox).

Detroit’s boom continues after the Second World War. Good money can be made in the busy industrial halls. Thanks to the prospering automotive industry, a solid middle class emerges in “Motor City.” In the early 1950s, Detroit has a population of 1.8 million that makes the city the fifth-largest one in the United States – today, it doesn’t even have 700,000. The decline of Detroit happens almost overnight. Following severe race riots in 1967, hundreds of thousands of well-paid whites move away from the city center. The oil crisis in the 1970s exacerbates the exodus: demand for the typical American V8-powered gas guzzlers from Ford, Chrysler and General Motors massively drops while the competition from Europe and especially from Japan is becoming stronger and stronger. Increasing automation costs further jobs. Especially the downtown area goes to rack and ruin – Motor City morphs into a metaphorical dirty old town.

Numerous rescue attempts

The former heavyweight has been hard hit. Detroit is tumbling, but Detroit won’t give up. Various rescue attempts follow. In 1977, Henry Ford II opens the impressive Renaissance Center. The huge complex is intended to attract the arts and business and to breathe life into the downtown area – without success. In 1987, Detroit demonstrates innovative prowess as one the first cities worldwide to build a fully automated elevated people mover system. It’s still traveling above plenty of bleakness. Around the turn of the millennium, Detroit tries its luck at becoming a gamblers’ paradise by opening three casinos. If nothing else, more than 100 million dollars in tax revenue from the money blown there end up in the city’s coffers. This slows the downward spiral, but won’t stop it: Detroit continues to perish. In 2008, during the financial crisis, homes can be bought for the pittance of 100 dollars. But who wants to live in Detroit! In the years of the crisis, the U.S. federal government has to ward off the specter of bancruptcy looming over General Motors and Chrysler with a multi-billion-dollar bailout. Ford mortgages nearly all of its domestic assets and even pledges its logo to raise money. This and the government bailouts keep the ailing Big Three alive, but Detroit’s situation remains shaky. In 2013, the city topples and files for bancruptcy: a shock and perhaps exactly the loud and clear wakeup call the people of Detroit needed for a collective relaunch.

A stimulating shock

The relaunch is also based on the fact that deprived Detroit has something to offer at a much lower price than other big cities: real property. Whether wasteland, industrial halls or residential buildings: the city government is still auctioning abandoned buildings with minimum bids set at 1,000 dollars. Artists find affordable studios, exhibition and practice facilities. They’re following in the footsteps of famous performers such as Diana Ross, who was born in Detroit, and Michael Jackson, who made his debut there in 1969. Another tradition is being revived as well: industrial design. In 2015, Detroit is the only city in the United States to be named a City of Design by the UNESCO and joining the Creative Cities network. “The industry of design has been a driver for the city’s urban regeneration and represents today a significant lever for employment and an economic engine by employing more than 45,000 people and generating 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in wages,” the UNESCO praises Detroit.

Along with the arts young, hip and, above all, highly educated people are moving to Motown, which is Detroit’s second nickname from the glorious 1950s. Plus, intellect and innovation bring money to the city as well. Detroit billionnaire Dan Gilbert, for instance, is actively engaged in revitalizing the desolate city center with its ornate office towers from the 1920s – with lots of money and success. Now tourists overnighting in carefully restored or newly built hotels are again strolling along the once-famous boulevard of Woodward Avenue. In addition, Gilbert founds the Detroit Ventures incubator in 2010. With ambitious aims. The tech startups supported by him and his partners are intended to do no less than “move the world forward.”

Since, as everyone knows, one dollar tends to be joined by a second dollar, another billionnaire, Stephen Ross, makes a commitment to Detroit’s resurrection. At the beginning of this year, the tycoon who’s known as a philanthropist donates 100 million dollars to support the construction project of the University of Michigan’s Detroit Center for Innovation. Dan Gilbert contributes the land, which used to be the site of a jail. Digital transformation instead of iron bars – construction is scheduled to start in 2021. “Detroit has always been an incredible place of innovation and opportunity,” enthuses Ross, who went to school and university in Detroit, “and the Detroit Center for Innovation will usher the city into a new era of leadership in technology.” Mayor Mike Duggan expects the future innovation center that’s planned to combine research, teaching and entrepreneurship to become the beacon of a Detroit 2.0.

Mobility across land, air, sea & space

Innovative startups that were either established here or attracted by a digital gold rush that’s in the offing in Motor City are already starting to sprout: potential skyrocketers such as Karamba Security, Derq and Guardhat. While Karamba Security develops security software in motor vehicles and IoT control units, Derq is dedicated to making precise predictions of traffic movements using artificial intelligence: an important element for smart roads and autonomous vehicles. Guardhat is focused on the utilization of highly sensitive electronics as well. The company’s novel wearables warn operators and personnel of hazardous areas, for instance in automated production facilities.

Chris Thomas is one of the people who firmly believe in Detroit and its transformation from a crashed auto to a high-tech mobility town. The entrepreneur, who grew up in Waterford, one of Detroit’s many suburbs, and used to be a Ford executive for a number of years, is almost euphoric: “I want to found and bring the most dynamic mobility start-ups in the world to Detroit. Metro Detroit is the deepest transportation technology cluster in the world and is perfectly positioned to leverage their current assets to create the future of mobility across land, air, sea and space.”

Thomas recently co-founded the Assembly Ventures incubator, in which Berlin venture capital specialist Felix Scheuffelen is engaged as well. It is generally notable that the Detroit innovation drivers like to network with other tech hot spots such as San Francisco, Tel Aviv, London and Dubai.

Chris Thomas is also on the team of the Michigan Mobility Institute that’s planning to offer the first Master of Mobility program together with select university partners starting in 2021. The idea behind this is clear: in addition to cash and courage, innovative companies need a large talent pool of experts in artificial intelligence, robotics, cyber security and similar fields.

Big business has fallen in love with Detroit again, too

However, college grads aren’t just in demand for the purpose of driving the success of startups. Large corporations need young, highly educated innovation drivers for growth as well. Fiat Chrysler is investing two billion dollars in its plant in the eastern part of Detroit, creating 4,000 jobs. The telecommunications company Verizon has launched its 5G network in collaboration with the University of Michigan and is developing various 5G solutions in Detroit to enhance automotive and pedestrian safety. They include 5G cameras that identify traffic and pedestrian patterns in order to avoid collisions.

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic intends to grow at the automotive site in nearby Farmington Hills that the company moved into in 2012. Tom Gebhardt, then President of Panasonic Automotive Systems Co. of America, commented on the move: “Reaffirming our commitment to the region, Panasonic Automotive’s position is to take advantage of the deep talent pool located in Southeast Michigan as we seek to further expand our business.”

Irish connectivity provider Cubic Telecom recently opened an office in Detroit in order to be close to customers from the mobility world. New colleagues are planned to soon join the initial team of five. In a press release announcing the new office, the company refers to a statement by Detroit Mobility Lab: “Detroit is poised to become the epicenter for mobility in the US.”

Ford is another company leaving no stone unturned to make this vision a reality. In 2018, the reinvigorated auto giant bought the run-down Michigan Central Station, planning to establish an innovation center for testing mobility solutions there and in the nearby Corktown district (see infobox). Concurrently, Ford is turning its 66-year-old development center in the Dearborn suburb inside out. After completion of the Campus of the Future, more than 20,000 employees are planned to work in a flexible, high-tech environment on creating new mobility solutions including electrified bicycles, scooters and shuttles.

Maybe Detroit will make history again – albeit a totally different, a digital one.