Colonial Logics in Rust Belt Revitalization: Rethinking State-led Gentrification

Scholars have questioned the analytic utility of gentrification theories when applied to declining Rust Belt cities. In these contexts, scholars suggest the state may play a more significant role in instigating gentrification. This article builds on recent scholarship at the intersection of colonialism, race, and urban studies to examine eight regulatory changes aimed at quelling decline and promoting revitalization in Detroit, Michigan that were rolled out during a pivotal period in the city’s recent history. We argue that these state interventions reflect and reproduce a settler colonial replacement logic: they threaten marginalized, primarily Black residents’ informal and legal relations to the city and its resources, while simultaneously striving to attract newcomers and expand their legal ownership of city land and property. These findings illustrate another way settler colonialism continues to shape contemporary dynamics in the United States and implicates city and state regulations as key instigators of urban revitalization in declining cities struggling with segregation and hypervacancy.