Date: Wednesday 17 March 2010
Time: 5.30-7.30pm
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speakers: G. Asenath Andrews, Stuart Gulliver, Bruce Katz, Richard Sennett
Chair: Roger Graef

Detroit was once America's fourth largest city. Built by the car, with its groundbreaking suburbs, freeways and shopping centres, it was the embodiment of the American dream. With its intense race riots that brought the Army into the city, and violent union struggles against the fierce resistance of Henry Ford and the Big Three, it was also the scene of American 'nightmares'.

In Requiem for Detroit (Dir. Julien Temple, 2010) we come face to face with a dystopic post-industrial city, in which 40% of the land in the centre is returning to prairie. This polemic documentary spans the course of the 20th century conveying the city's transition from Motor City to beacon for the burgeoning urban agricultural movement.

G. Asenath Andrews is Principal of the Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women. Stuart Gulliver is Professor of City Development, University of Glasgow. Bruce Katz is Head of Municipal Metropolitan Policy Program and Vice-President, Brookings Institution. Richard Sennett is Professor of Sociology, LSE.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email n.tesfay@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 7390.

Media queries: please contact Adam Kaasa if you would like to reserve a press seat or have a media query about this event, email a.r.kaasa@lse.ac.uk

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