Cadillac Urban Gardens doesn’t just grow produce. It grow leaders and environmental stewards, says U-M alumna Sarah Clark, who founded the garden. Clark started working with Dolores Perales in 2013 when she was a sophomore at Detroit Cristo Rey High School. Perales went on to earn dual master’s degrees from U-M.

Participants toured locations such as the Detroit Riverfront with Professor Maria Arquero, the Packard Plant with Professor Robert Adams, and Historic Fort Wayne with Detroit Historical Society curator Jeremy Dimmick.

“People talked about the Michigan Difference. Part of that is U-M’s worldwide network of alums. I didn’t understand that until after I graduated.”

~ Khalilah Burt Gaston

“And I got to Detroit and I immediately knew it. I was a student, but I knew I needed to be here. It resonated with who I am as a person.”
~ Yvette Rock

Detroit faces special challenges in creating a more equitable economy, Elizabeth Luther said. Following the post-World War II boom, Detroit experienced some of the most devastating business disinvestment and population loss of any city in the country.

The public forum convenes artists, architects, urbanists, activists and thinkers from around the world to evaluate and discuss ways to meaningfully intervene. It showcases work that equitably addresses social problems, especially in places where design is traditionally unavailable or inaccessible. 

To help emerging architects develop the technical skills and realistic experience they will need in actual practice, Hansen and Gräbner work each fall with students in Taubman College’s Systems Studio. 

María Arquero de Alarcón is interested in bringing design and planning capacities to under-resourced communities that are typically overlooked by mainstream professional practice.

The grant program is the latest example of Taubman College’s leadership in the burgeoning field of urban technology. Taubman College launched a new Bachelor of Science in Urban Technology that welcomed its first cohort of students in January 2022.