Is Not Rust City Renovation

The so-called “Rust Belt” cities have become a favorite subject for city planners, architects, and business apologists. This book examines the problem of economic decline in these former industrial and manufacturing towns, but not from the perspective of potential investors, business leaders, city management, bureaucrats, or government officials. Instead, we concern ourselves with the residents and citizens of these cities. Rust City Renovation is organized around a preference for liberty over jobs, and an “excessive” democratic participation — co-evolution and collectivity outside the bounds of easy governability, manipulation, and control.