About Detroit Blight to Beauty Capstone Projects
Launched with support from the Lester Family Blight to Beauty Support Fund, these capstones build on a goal set by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in his 2022 State of the City address: to transform Detroit from Blight to Beauty through investments in safety, beautification, and opportunity.
Through this partnership, interdisciplinary teams of up to 5 graduate students work directly with staff in the City of Detroit Mayor’s office on high-impact, community-focused sustainability projects to support and enhance Detroit’s sustainability and climate action planning efforts.
Both The Clinic’s Capstone Projects and Detroit Blight to Beauty Capstone Projects fulfill the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) graduate student Master’s Project requirement.
Learn more about our current and completed Blight to Beauty Capstone Projects below.
Completed Projects
Detroit Regenerative Futures: Revive, Thrive, and Level Up - A Gamification Strategy for Vacant Land Activation in Detroit
The Detroit Blight to Beauty project will collaborate with the City of Detroit's Office of Sustainability to launch a pilot program that activates 100 acres of vacant land across Detroit for land revitalization and low-impact development projects.
Enhancing Equitable Outcomes Assessment for the Joe Louis Greenway Development in Detroit: A Community-Centered Digital Monitoring System
Working with the City of Detroit Office of Planning and Development, this Detroit Blight to Beauty project team is constructing a community-centric digital monitoring system to measure equitable outcomes in urban trails and greenway projects.
Comparative Analysis of US Community Solar Initiatives: Recommendations for the City of Detroit
This project partnered with the City of Detroit Office of Sustainability to assess the feasibility of solar energy development on municipal buildings and lands in metro Detroit
City of Detroit Gratiot/Harper Development Project
This project worked with the City of Detroit to propose and map scenarios for activating vacant land in the Gratiot-7 Mile neighborhood.