Metropolis Mag post on Refugees and Legacy Cities
Nicholas Hamilton, NOMA
![Nicholas Hamilton, NOMA]()
Nicholas Hamilton, NOMA
Public Policy Lead, Good City Company & President, Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization
Metropolis Magazine just ran an in-depth article on the role of refugees and legacy cities, the role of Design, and the importance of shifting the narrative--the article is complete with links to our Legacy Cities work. A couple quotes pasted here, but the article is worth the read in its entirety:
"Refugees Could 'Save' America's Rust Belt—Will We Let Them? Across the nation, refugees are boosting America's legacy cities, but encountering resistance from residents. If these cities are to succeed, we must reframe the narrative around refugees—and design could have a pivotal role to play." In May of last year, David Laitin, a political science professor at Stanford University, penned a controversial op-ed in the New York Times. In “ Let Syrians Settle Detroit,” he juxtaposed two unrelated yet concurrent disasters: the millions of Syrians fleeing their war-torn land, and the contraction of the once-prosperous city of Detroit, which has left thousands of buildings abandoned and lots vacant. “Suppose,” Laitan suggests, “these two social and humanitarian disasters were conjoined.”