The Greening of Detroit

The Greening of Detroit's Lafayette Greens garden

The organization works to coordinate and utilize vacant lots in Detroit for urban gardens and tree nurseries.[9] Produce grown in the gardens is used to provide Detroit citizens with food, and trees grown in the converted vacant lots are replanted in the city.[9] The conversion of the vacant lots also improves their appearance and serves to reduce vandalism.[9][10]

At Romanowski Park in Detroit, The Greening of Detroit has partnered with area schools to educate students about nutrition and gardening during the growing season.[9]

The group is working to use bioremediation techniques to restore contaminated land in the city, including an abandoned lot owned by Detroit Public Schools.[11]

According to a report by Christine E. Carmichael, a researcher from the University of Michigan, during Greening’s tree planting in Detroit from 2011 to 2014, 24% of residents submitted a "no-tree request",[14] more than 1,800 out of the 7,425 possible trees.[15] Although they recognized the benefits of urban forestry, their personal experiences with the city government’s initial deforestation of the area after the 1967 Detroit riot led to distrust. The city government’s stated reason for deforesting the area was to control the spread of Dutch elm disease, including spraying DDT from helicopters over residential areas, but some African-American women interviewed by Carmichael viewed the deforestation and helicopters as increased surveillance of their communities in response to racial tensions, and consequently did not trust reforestation efforts. On the other hand, Greening representatives were under the impression that residents didn't recognize the importance of urban forestry. These differing perspectives on the city’s history through different lived experiences was described by Carmichael as “heritage narratives”.[16]

Neighborhood residents also felt distrust towards Greening staff for not involving residents meaningfully enough in planning and decision making, as well as the fact that most of their volunteers were white and not from Detroit, a city with an African-American population of 83% in 2014. Additionally, residents felt that large trees already planted on city property weren’t properly cared for by the city, causing issues with safety and the appearance of neighborhoods, and that they would also be made responsible for the trees that Greening planted without their input.[16] Residents participating in the report were more willing to accept the trees if they got to choose what kinds of trees would be planted.[15]

In 2014, some residents also protested against Greening’s removal of playground structures and planting trees in southwest Detroit’s Bridgeview Park. Greening’s intent was to remove contaminants such as arsenic and lead with the new trees through phytoremediation, but residents voiced concerns such as that they didn’t get to give input on the project, especially as a Black community; digging health hazards; and a possible rodent population increase.[17] They were also not informed of the contaminated soil by the time the project started, although the Detroit Public Schools district, which held ownership of the land, had previously erected a fence to prevent trespassing.[18]

In response to Carmichael’s study, Greening expanded involvement of residents in planning and planting, as well as increased their number of community-engagement members from one person to four people, all of whom lived in Detroit.[16]

• Hantz Woodlands
• Urban ecology
• Urban forestry
• Urban reforestation

• The Unreal Estate Guide to Detroit – Andrew Herscher. pp. 70–71.
• (Associated Press) (June 8, 2009). "Nonprofit group Greening of Detroit works to restore canopy in Motor City". Associated Press. Retrieved 6 November 2013.

• Official website