The Renaissance Center , commonly known as the RenCen , is a complex of seven connected skyscrapers in downtown Detroit , Michigan , United States . Located on the Detroit International Riverfront , the RenCen is owned and used by General Motors as its world headquarters. The complex includes a 73-story Marriott hotel at its center, surrounded by four 39-story office towers, connected by a large square podium containing public spaces, a conference center, retail stores, restaurants, and a company showroom.
121-702: Developed as an urban renewal project in the 1970s, the Renaissance Center was envisioned as a "city-within-a-city," and was meant to anchor a wider redevelopment of the then-declining city of Detroit. The project was developed and funded by a consortium led by the Ford Motor Company , and John Portman served as its principal architect. The five original towers were built in the Modern architectural style and completed in 1977, with two matching towers added later in 1981. General Motors purchased
242-430: A circumference of approximately 660 feet (200 m) or about one-eighth of a mile around. The ringed walkway's diameter is approximately 210 feet (64 m). It links to several other walkways in the complex. The five-story Wintergarden atrium leads into the central area which has an eight-story atrium lobby with rounded concrete balconies and terraces. The Highlands is located on Floors 71 through 73, which includes
363-564: A degree of arc , arc degree , or arcdegree ), usually denoted by ° (the degree symbol ), is a measurement of a plane angle in which one full rotation is 360 degrees. It is not an SI unit —the SI unit of angular measure is the radian —but it is mentioned in the SI brochure as an accepted unit . Because a full rotation equals 2 π radians, one degree is equivalent to π / 180 radians. The original motivation for choosing
484-410: A " prime " (minute of arc), 1 for a second , 1 for a third , 1 for a fourth , etc. Hence, the modern symbols for the minute and second of arc, and the word "second" also refer to this system. SI prefixes can also be applied as in, e.g., millidegree , microdegree , etc. In most mathematical work beyond practical geometry, angles are typically measured in radians rather than degrees. This
605-416: A 14-acre (5.7 ha) site. The complex is designed in the modern architectural style with glass as a main material. Famous for its cylindrical design, the central hotel tower's diameter is 188 feet (57 m). A lighted glass walkway radiates the mezzanine level and encircles the base of cylindrical hotel tower for ease of navigation. This ringed glass walkway is about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and has
726-516: A city's centre. Urban renewal may increase density and reduce urban sprawl . While urban sprawl is an unrestricted way of expanding the limits of a city, urban renewal clears out undeveloped areas within city limits. While urban sprawl increases urbanization, it can lead to vacant areas and sparse industrial sites. In some cases, urban renewal may result in increased urban sprawl when city infrastructure begins to include freeways and expressways . Urban renewal triggers urban sprawl to transpire, as
847-400: A courtyard, creating a semi-private space within the estate functioning as recreation area. The courtyards were meant to create a community atmosphere and the blocks of flats were designed to allow sunlight into the courtyards. The blocks of flats were built using high-quality brickwork and included architectural features such as lettering , glazing , fixtures and fittings. The estates built in
968-452: A cycle or revolution) is equal to 360°. With the invention of the metric system , based on powers of ten, there was an attempt to replace degrees by decimal "degrees" in France and nearby countries, where the number in a right angle is equal to 100 gon with 400 gon in a full circle (1° = 10 ⁄ 9 gon). This was called grade (nouveau) or grad . Due to confusion with
1089-565: A deliberate focus on equitable development strategies, as demonstrated by initiatives like the ReGenesis Project in South Carolina , which combines environmental cleanup with community-driven planning. Urban renewal evolved into a policy based less on destruction and more on renovation and investment, and today is an integral part of many local governments. A primary purpose of urban renewal is to restore economic viability to
1210-541: A frequent feature in photography taken from Windsor, Ontario, across the river. From the top of Renaissance Center's previous Coach Insignia restaurant (closed in 2017), patrons were able to peer down upon the neogothic spires of the One Detroit Center and the city's Financial District skyscrapers and stadiums. The view from the top extended for 30 miles (48 km) in all directions. The Renaissance Center grounds constitute ZIP code 48243. The centerpiece
1331-452: A given area by attracting external private and public investment and by encouraging business start-ups and survival. The goals of urban renewal are: Slum clearances are strategy to demolish low-income poor-quality settlements and use the land for another type of housing. As well as being a tool for urban renewal, they have also been carried for public health and social reform reasons. Slum clearances and other programmes focused mainly on
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#17327810988401452-519: A jazz club, and a movie theater. The theater has since closed and been converted to offices. A pedestrian-friendly glass entryway has replaced the former concrete berms along Jefferson Avenue. The redevelopment provides the GM World display of vehicles, a restored hotel, a renovated rooftop restaurant, and the addition of GM's corporate logo to crown the top of the building. Construction of the lighted glass walkway facilitates ease of navigation encircling
1573-474: A large-scale program to renovate dilapidated Soviet-built housing , known as Khrushchevki . The program provided for the demolition of 5,171 apartment buildings and the resettlement of 1.6 million city residents by 2032. The program was later extended to a number of other Russian cities. The history of Singapore's urban renewal goes back to the time period surrounding the Second World War . Before
1694-597: A network of highways and interstates becomes the connection between many different cities. Areas are also often cleared in solely order to construct highways, which bring pollution and heavy vehicle traffic to surrounding neighborhoods. Poorly-conceived designs can lead to the destruction of functional neighborhoods and the creation of new ones which are less desirable or replaced with experimental new development patterns which prove undesirable or not economically sustainable. Community displacement of people living in urban renewal areas comes in various forms. Displacement may be
1815-544: A possibility which CEO Mary Barra declined to rule out. GM retained Bedrock Detroit, the real estate firm developing Hudson's Detroit, to consult on the redevelopment. GM and Bedrock revealed a conceptual plan for the RenCen's redevelopment in November 2024. The plan calls for the demolition of two of the RenCen's office towers, 300 and 400, and most of the existing public and retail spaces at its base. Under this plan, one of
1936-459: A product of the Fisher family whose legacy includes Fisher Body , a name which is part of GM history. The Renaissance Center's renovation provides for the prospect of continued development and restorations throughout the city. Architectural critics have touted the city's architecture as among North America's finest. In its first year of operation it generated over $ 1 billion in economic growth for
2057-523: A restaurant, scotch bar, and special events space. The hotel has no floors labeled 7, 8, or 13. The hotel features a major conference center with 100,000 square feet (9,300 m) of meeting space including a Renaissance Ballroom for up to 2,200 guests with 26,000 square feet (2,400 m) for events, one of the largest in the United States. John Portman designed the five-building rosette with interior spaces. In 1977, its central tower opened as
2178-550: A stated or covert intention of the project, but it may also happen when other renewal objectives are prioritized over the ability of residents to stay in their area, or as an unforeseen consequence of planning decisions. Displacement may be direct, for example in cases where low-income residents are forced to leave their homes and communities, or indirect, for example when renewal is a catalyst for gentrification and/or housing prices rise such that they no longer affordable to low-income residents. Indirect displacement can also result from
2299-623: A total of 660,000 square feet (61,000 m). A portion of the central atrium area houses GM World , a showcase for GM vehicles. Two 21-story towers (500–600), designed by Portman and constructed in 1981, reach 339 feet (103 m). GM gained control of Towers 500 and 600 in 2001. Tower 500 has 307,300 square feet (28,550 m) of office space and an additional 14,485 square feet (1,350 m) of retail space. Tower 600 has 304,200 square feet (28,260 m) of office space and an additional 35,730 square feet (3,320 m) of retail space. Towers 100 and 200 front Jefferson Avenue. Towers 300 and 400 are on
2420-549: A world class riverfront promenade planned at $ 559 million, which included $ 50 million from the Kresge foundation. In 2011, the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority opened its new state of the art cruise ship dock and passenger terminal on Hart Plaza, adjacent to the Renaissance Center. Port authority bonds financed another 1,500 space parking garage adjacent to the Renaissance Center. Further upriver,
2541-488: A ‘world-class’ city." In Buenos Aires , Argentina , Puerto Madero is a known example of an urban renewal project. In the 1990s, the Argentine government decided to build a new residential and commercial district to replace city's old port and docks. More than 50 skyscrapers have been built in the last 20 years. Puerto Madero is now Buenos Aires' most expensive and exclusive neighborhood. Australia's built environment
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#17327810988402662-453: Is 1 nautical mile . The example above would be given as 40° 11.25′ (commonly written as 11′25 or 11′.25). The older system of thirds , fourths , etc., which continues the sexagesimal unit subdivision, was used by al-Kashi and other ancient astronomers, but is rarely used today. These subdivisions were denoted by writing the Roman numeral for the number of sixtieths in superscript: 1 for
2783-561: Is a known example of an urban renewal project. Its historical development began in 1976, when the Taipei Municipal Government accepted the proposal to redevelop the area east of the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. The goal of this redevelopment was to set up a secondary commercial center away from the more crowded old city center ( Taipei Station , Ximending area). The redevelopment hoped to increase
2904-484: Is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighted areas in inner cities in favour of new housing, businesses, and other developments. The concept of urban renewal as a method for social reform emerged in England as a reaction to the increasingly cramped and unsanitary conditions of the urban poor in the rapidly industrializing cities of
3025-511: Is approximately 365 because of the apparent movement of the sun against the celestial sphere, and that it was rounded to 360 for some of the mathematical reasons cited above. For many practical purposes, a degree is a small enough angle that whole degrees provide sufficient precision. When this is not the case, as in astronomy or for geographic coordinates ( latitude and longitude ), degree measurements may be written using decimal degrees ( DD notation ); for example, 40.1875°. Alternatively,
3146-442: Is for a variety of reasons; for example, the trigonometric functions have simpler and more "natural" properties when their arguments are expressed in radians. These considerations outweigh the convenient divisibility of the number 360. One complete turn (360°) is equal to 2 π radians, so 180° is equal to π radians, or equivalently, the degree is a mathematical constant : 1° = π ⁄ 180 . One turn (corresponding to
3267-475: Is now the prime central business district of Taipei. From the 1850s onwards, the terrible conditions of the urban poor in the slums of London began to attract the attention of social reformers and philanthropists, who began a movement for social housing. The first area to be targeted was the notorious slum called the Devil's Acre near Westminster . This new movement was largely funded by George Peabody and
3388-437: Is often carried out in rural areas, referred to as village renewal, though it may not be exactly the same in practice. An example being the introduction of tractors in France after the second world war. Replenished housing stock might be an improvement in quality, cultural and social amenity, and opportunities for safety and surveillance. Developments such as London Docklands increased tax revenues for government. In late 1964,
3509-540: Is owned by General Motors. The hotel in the central tower is now managed by the Marriott hotel chain and is called the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. The 1,298-room hotel is one of the largest operated by Marriott. The rooftop restaurant (which previously had revolved) received a $ 10 million renovation and was operated by The Epicurean Groups's Coach Insignia (closed in 2017). It served Coach wines,
3630-478: Is quite young and the earliest large scale urban renewal projects didn't occur until the 1960s in the large cities of Sydney and Melbourne . Housing Commission of New South Wales and the Housing Commission of Victoria conducted large slum recalamation projects in the 1960s replacing large areas of Victorian era housing with international style housing commission towers. These projects were halted in
3751-562: Is the 73-story 727-foot (221.5 m) luxury hotel with 1,246 rooms and 52 suites (1298 total guest rooms). Its height is measured from its main Wintergarden entrance on Atwater Street which faces the International Riverfront where the complex measures 14 feet (4.3 m) taller. Entirely owned by General Motors, the complex has 5,552,000 square feet (515,800 m) of space. The main Renaissance Center complex rises from
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3872-549: The Babylonian astronomers and their Greek successors, was based on chords of a circle. A chord of length equal to the radius made a natural base quantity. One sixtieth of this, using their standard sexagesimal divisions, was a degree. Aristarchus of Samos and Hipparchus seem to have been among the first Greek scientists to exploit Babylonian astronomical knowledge and techniques systematically. Timocharis , Aristarchus, Aristillus , Archimedes , and Hipparchus were
3993-461: The Babylonian calendar , used 360 days for a year. The use of a calendar with 360 days may be related to the use of sexagesimal numbers. Another theory is that the Babylonians subdivided the circle using the angle of an equilateral triangle as the basic unit, and further subdivided the latter into 60 parts following their sexagesimal numeric system. The earliest trigonometry , used by
4114-457: The OEIS ). Furthermore, it is divisible by every number from 1 to 10 except 7. This property has many useful applications, such as dividing the world into 24 time zones , each of which is nominally 15° of longitude , to correlate with the established 24-hour day convention. Finally, it may be the case that more than one of these factors has come into play. According to that theory, the number
4235-690: The Peabody Trust and had a lasting impact on the urban character of Westminster. Slum clearance began with the Rochester Buildings, on the corner of Old Pye Street and Perkin's Rent, which were built in 1862 by the merchant William Gibbs . They are one of the earliest large-scale philanthropic housing developments in London. The Rochester Buildings were sold to the Peabody Trust in 1877 and later become known as Blocks A to D of
4356-693: The Porto Maravilha [ pt ] is a large-scale urban waterfront revitalization project, which covers a centrally located five million square meter area. The project aims to redevelop the port area, increasing the city center attractiveness as a whole and enhancing the city's competitiveness in the global economy . The urban renovation involves 700 km of public networks for water supply, sanitation, drainage, electricity, gas and telecom; 5 km of tunnels; 70 km of roads; 650 km of sidewalks; 17 km of bike path; 15.000 trees; and 3 plants for sanitation treatment. China experienced
4477-561: The Roberts Riverwalk Hotel faces the east riverfront. In addition to the gradual continuation of the riverfront promenade, other planned projects complementing the Renaissance Center continue along the International Riverfont which include development of luxury condominiums, a cruise ship passenger terminal, retail, and entertainment venues. In 2011, the Renaissance Center added colored LED lighting on
4598-572: The Southfield Town Center office complex - with five inter-connected golden skyscrapers and an overall area of 2,200,000 square feet (200,000 m) - was constructed from 1975 to 1989. In the ensuing years, the Renaissance Center would face competition from the growing suburban office market. The redevelopment project included the work of many different architects including Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of Chicago , SmithGroup of Detroit, and Ghafari Associates of Dearborn who did
4719-462: The flagship of Westin Hotels. The top three floors of the hotel hosted an upscale restaurant, The Summit, that rotated to allow a 360 degree view. The shopping center in the podium originally housed high-end boutiques, but now contains a greater complement of restaurants in the retail mix. In 1977, managed by Western International Hotels , the central hotel tower of the Renaissance Center opened as
4840-474: The "risk of crime during all phases of construction sites" La legalità per la rigenerazione urbana: a law analysis . In the French colonial period, the entire city of Marrakesh - the city inside the defensive walls - was razed and redeveloped, except for the preservation of mosques, madrassas, and funerary memorials. The preserved madrassas include buildings erected as caravanserai. In 2017, Moscow launched
4961-503: The $ 300-per-couple tickets went to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra . During the 1980 Republican National Convention , hosted at nearby Joe Louis Arena , presidential nominee Ronald Reagan and former President Gerald Ford both stayed at the Renaissance Center. In 1987, the elevated Detroit People Mover transit line began operation with a stop at the Renaissance Center . In 1996, General Motors purchased
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5082-408: The 1950s with the reconstruction from Korean War , but the first Urban Redevelopment Act was passed in 1976. This began 20 years of large-scale clearance projects, which did not address socioeconomic problems and led to the breakdown of communities. In the 2000s, the government's focus changed from redevelopment to maintenance of existing developments. In Taipei , Taiwan , Xinyi Special District
5203-481: The 1950s. It was caused by the movement of migrants, especially from peninsular Malaysia and the baby boom. In mid 1959, overcrowded slums were inhabited by a big number of squatter populations, whereas these areas lacked the existence of service facilities such as sanitation. Since the establishment of the Republic of Singapore , urban renewal has been included in the part of the national improvement policy that
5324-705: The 1990s the concept of culture -led regeneration gained ground. Examples most often cited as successes include Temple Bar in Dublin where tourism was attracted to a bohemian 'cultural quarter', Israel has been undergoing extensive urban renewal projects due to the large number of concrete tenement buildings in its cities which do not meet modern Israeli safety standards and have what is widely considered to be an impoverished and unattractive appearance. Israel built large numbers of these tenement buildings, known in Israel as "train buildings" (בנייני רכבת, binyanei rakevet ), in
5445-473: The 19th century. The agenda that emerged was a progressive doctrine that assumed better housing conditions would reform its residents morally and economically. Modern attempts at renewal began in the late 19th century in developed nations. However, urban reform imposed by the state for reasons of aesthetics and efficiency had already begun in 1853, with Haussmann's renovation of Paris ordered by Napoleon III . Modern urban renewal experienced an intense phase in
5566-795: The 2000s. Urban renewal involving established residential areas is now seldom tolerated and more recent projects have instead concentrated on disused industrial and transport infrastructure or adaptive reuse of older building stock particularly for new hi-rise housing projects. Pyrmont and Ultimo in Sydney and Postcode 3000 in Melbourne in 1992 are two key early examples along with Beacon Cove Fisherman's Bend in Melbourne and Urban renewal in Woolstore Precinct, Teneriffe and later Northshore at Hamilton in Brisbane . In Rio de Janeiro ,
5687-856: The Anglo-Saxon model taking in account the idea of an action that "determines an increase of economic, cultural, social values in an existing urban or territorial context." For instance, we can mention the regional law of 29 July 2008, nr. 21, of the Puglia Region, "Norms for urban regeneration", which states: «By this law, the Puglia Region promotes the regeneration of parts of cities and urban systems in coherence with municipal and inter-municipal strategies in order to improve urban, socio-economics, environmental and cultural conditions of human settlements " LEGGE REGIONALE 29 luglio 2008, n. 21: "Norme per la rigenerazione urbana" . A similar concept
5808-475: The British commentator Neil Wates expressed the opinion that urban renewal in the United States had 'demonstrated the tremendous advantages which flow from an urban renewal programme,' such as remedying the 'personal problems' of the poor, creation or renovation of housing stock, educational and cultural 'opportunities'. Urban renewal might have economic benefits and improve the global economic competitiveness of
5929-720: The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, Hart Plaza , Huntington Place (formerly Cobo Center, home to events such as the North American International Auto Show and Youmacon ) and the Joe Louis Arena (former home of the Detroit Red Wings ). The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law is located just across Jefferson Avenue. The Renaissance Center's modernist architecture balances the city's panoramic waterfront skyline ,
6050-630: The Detroit Downtown Development Authority. The companies' demand for taxpayer funding of the project was met with public opposition by some state lawmakers, including Matt Hall , the speaker-elect of the Michigan House of Representatives . The Renaissance Center is a riverfront property located along the Detroit River. Approximately one-mile north of the center are Comerica Park and Ford Field ,
6171-941: The Detroit Plaza Hotel. It became the world's tallest all-hotel skyscraper surpassing its architectural twin, the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta. Its opening ended the Penobscot Building 's 49-year reign as the tallest building in Michigan. The hotel was later renamed The Westin Hotel Renaissance Center Detroit. In 1986, it was surpassed in height by The Westin Stamford in Singapore . Since,
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#17327810988406292-546: The Detroit Riverwalk exceeded $ 1 billion; the project constituted a substantial investment in downtown. More than 10,000 people (of whom 6,000 are GM employees) work in the complex. Nearly 2,000 state workers now occupy GM's former office building, the restored Cadillac Place, in the historic New Center district. Architects' initial design for the Renaissance Center focused on creating secure interior spaces , while its design later expanded and improved to connect with
6413-619: The International Riverfront. (River East Center) (River East Center) In June 2015 the Ren Cen 4 Theatres theater complex announced that it was closing. With the end of Ren Cen 4, the city of Detroit has one first-run theater remaining, along with three independent theaters. In July 2007 portions of Asian Village, a development of restaurants in Suite 2653 in the GM Center (200 Renaissance Center) with Asian cuisine offered, opened. The center
6534-409: The International Riverfront. In addition, the atrium contains 150,000 square feet (14,000 m) of retail space and 40,000 square feet (3,700 m) of contiguous main floor exhibit space which was used by the media during Super Bowl XL. The $ 500 million renovation of the Renaissance Center completed in 2003 has helped improve Detroit's economy. Together, GM's renovation of the Renaissance Center and
6655-510: The Old Perkin's Rents Estate. Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts funded an experimental social housing estate, among the first of its kind, on the corner of Columbia Road and Old Pye Street (now demolished). In 1869, the Peabody Trust built one of its first housing estates at Brewer's Green, between Victoria Street and St. James's Park . What remained of the Devil's Acre on
6776-533: The Past (2016) examines the destruction of Syrian Town, a diverse neighborhood in Easton, Pennsylvania , and highlights how former residents use collective memory to maintain community ties despite displacement. In the politics of urban renewal, the state ultimately decides what is important to a city based on its own narrative and existing market conditions, and introduces elements which reflect these values, replacing
6897-414: The Renaissance Center in 1996, and relocated its global headquarters to the complex. An extensive renovation, completed in 2004, significantly altered its Brutalist interior, improved access to the center from downtown, and added a new glass retail atrium and public plaza on the riverfront. A distinctive feature of Detroit's skyline, the RenCen is widely considered to be a landmark and cultural icon of
7018-509: The Renaissance Center's central tower has held the distinction as the tallest all-hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere . On April 15, 1977, Henry Ford II and Detroit mayor Coleman Young unveiled a plaque commemorating the private investors whose funds made the project possible. Later that evening, 650 business and society leaders attended a benefit to celebrate the Renaissance Center's formal dedication. The money raised from
7139-501: The UN assistance report, two pilot developments were initiated in the end of 1964 by the government. These redevelopments then led to the success of Singapore's urban renewal because the government could provide sufficient amount of public housing and business areas. In the establishment of urban renewal programmes, some difficulties were experienced by the PAP government . The obstacles came from
7260-625: The addition of the winter garden provides riverfront access and a view of Canada. A covered skyway over Jefferson Avenue connects to the Millender Center , Courtyard by Marriott - Downtown Detroit, and Coleman A. Young Municipal Center . The Wintergarden added to the Renaissance Center faces the Riverfront and provides panoramic views of the Windsor skyline. The complex connects offices, the hotel, retail specialty shops, restaurants,
7381-406: The additional glass used for the atriums. It also cost $ 337 million to construct, employing 7,000 workers. The heating and cooling systems for the buildings were housed in two-story concrete berms facing Jefferson Avenue. Other phases that included residences, additional office and retail space were never constructed. When the Renaissance Center opened, the cylindrical central tower was originally
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#17327810988407502-496: The area at the time were considered model dwellings and included shared laundry and sanitary facilities, innovative at the time, and fireplaces in some bedrooms. The design was subsequently repeated in numerous other housing estates in London. State intervention was first achieved with the passage of the Public Health Act of 1875 through Parliament . The Act focused on combating filthy urban living conditions that were
7623-457: The availability of lottery funding for capital projects and the vibrancy of the cultural and creative sectors. However, the arrival of Tate Modern in the London borough of Southwark may be heralded as a catalyst to economic revival in its surrounding neighborhood. Urban renewal schemes are often combined with small business and big business incentives. The process of urban regeneration
7744-658: The cause of disease outbreaks. It required all new residential construction to include running water and an internal drainage system and also prohibited the construction of shoddy housing by building contractors. The London County Council was created in 1889 as the municipal authority in the County of London and in 1890 the Old Nichol in the East End of London was declared a slum and the Council authorized its clearance and
7865-535: The changes made to the urban decay area. After having more research about urban renewal in terms of international trends and domestic development, the practitioners in the industry built consensus to use “urban renewal” to describe all the changes made to the old town area. With the rapid development pace of urbanization in China, the urbanization rate reached the inflection point of the Northam curve . The city development
7986-424: The city. With 5,552,000 square feet (515,800 m) of usable space, it is one of the world's largest commercial complexes , and the central tower has been the tallest building in Michigan since its completion in 1977. At the time of its completion, the Renaissance Center was the largest private development in the history of the United States, and the central tower was the world's tallest hotel . In recent years,
8107-509: The cleared areas to become surface parking lots, sparse industrial areas, or vacant land. In Barcelona the 1992 Olympics provided a catalyst for infrastructure improvements and the redevelopment of the water front area, and in Bilbao the building of a new art museum was the focus for a new business district around the city's derelict dock area. The approach has become very popular in the UK due to
8228-677: The complex and moved its world headquarters from what is now the historic Cadillac Place state office complex in the New Center district, to the Renaissance Center, in downtown Detroit. Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company maintained offices in one of the towers in the center. Before the acquisition, Sibley's Shoes had its headquarters in the center. In December 2001, General Motors unveiled the Wintergarden retail atrium. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill , it rises 103 feet (31 m) tall at its highest point opening direct access to
8349-457: The complex to make it more inviting as a destination for visitors to Detroit. That July, the complex was re-branded as "The GM REN CEN, and" Its logo was modernized and "Reflecting a New Detroit" was introduced as the new tagline. A photo-journalistic advertising campaign launched to "shine a spotlight on the people in Detroit who make remarkable contributions" to the city. The Renaissance Center
8470-596: The current initiatives, noted in the Chief Executive's 2022 Policy Address, is to consolidate property interests and expedite urban renewal. Iranian Urban Renewal corporation is in charge of the program. Tehran and Isfahan and Khorasan and Khuzestan have some of the highest statistics of housing developments. Seventh program offers support to Ministry of Road and Urban and Development for gentrification and development in lesser devoped zones. Funding will also support money going to mass housing developers. During
8591-458: The degree as a unit of rotations and angles is unknown. One theory states that it is related to the fact that 360 is approximately the number of days in a year. Ancient astronomers noticed that the sun, which follows through the ecliptic path over the course of the year, seems to advance in its path by approximately one degree each day. Some ancient calendars , such as the Persian calendar and
8712-526: The demolition of housing in disadvantaged areas have often been criticized as a means of urban renewal for not adequately addressing the social problems that caused the initial problems in the area. By contrast, slum upgrading is an approach that aims to improve the existing area by directly addressing existing land tenure, infrastructure, and socioeconomic problems. Also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase/acquisition, resumption or expropriation in various countries, eminent domain is, in principle,
8833-444: The downtown. Detroit Renaissance continued to interact with the city, by contributing to a variety of projects within the downtown area in the ensuing decades. On April 15, 2024, GM announced its intention to move its headquarters from the Renaissance Center to the under-construction Hudson's Detroit in 2025. GM publicly committed to redeveloping the RenCen, but their planned exit sparked public speculation that it could be demolished,
8954-483: The early 1970s as enthusiasm for Towers in the Park planning waned. In 1971, a plan to raze Sydney's historic area The Rocks for public housing was halted by green bans . The CBDs and inner suburban areas of Australia's cities have been in constant renewal since the 19th century, however apart from large commercial re-developments this has mostly been done in ad-hoc fashion rather than as major planning initiative. Among
9075-435: The evacuate and build program and TAMA 38. The evacuate and build program, launched in 1998, allows developers to tear down older building complexes and replace them with larger and more modern buildings, while TAMA 38, launched in 2005, enables developers to extensively remodel buildings, strengthening them against earthquakes, adding safety rooms, remodeling the building's appearance, and adding new apartments. In both projects,
9196-573: The existing term grad(e) in some northern European countries (meaning a standard degree, 1 / 360 of a turn), the new unit was called Neugrad in German (whereas the "old" degree was referred to as Altgrad ), likewise nygrad in Danish , Swedish and Norwegian (also gradian ), and nýgráða in Icelandic . To end the confusion, the name gon was later adopted for
9317-449: The exterior spaces and waterfront through a reconfigured interior, open glass entryways, and a winter garden. By 2004, GM completed an extensive $ 500 million renovation of the Renaissance Center. This included a $ 100 million makeover for the hotel. Among GM's first actions was to remove the concrete berms facing Jefferson Avenue. The renovation includes a lighted glass walkway which encircles the interior mezzanine for ease of navigation, while
9438-412: The fastest urbanization and has one of the greatest urban sprawl scale in the world from 1990. Massive real estate development and reconstruction brought economic revitalization. However, when cleaning the urban decay area, traditional and historic buildings were destroyed to different levels. In the industry, researchers and practitioners used “old town reconstruction” and “urban regeneration” to describe
9559-403: The first Greeks known to divide the circle in 360 degrees of 60 arc minutes . Eratosthenes used a simpler sexagesimal system dividing a circle into 60 parts. Another motivation for choosing the number 360 may have been that it is readily divisible : 360 has 24 divisors , making it one of only 7 numbers such that no number less than twice as much has more divisors (sequence A072938 in
9680-475: The first decades of independence to house masses of Jewish refugees coming from Europe and the Muslim world. Since then, Israeli architectural styles have changed. In addition, these buildings do not meet modern safety regulations: Israeli law has required all new buildings to be built in an earthquake-resistant manner since 1980 and to be built with bomb shelters since 1991. There are two main urban renewal programs:
9801-425: The gap between the needs of urban residents, local authorities, and property developers, fostering innovative, community-driven solutions. Moreover, urban renewal projects have drawn attention to the nuanced impacts of gentrification. While these efforts can bring economic and infrastructural improvements, they may also displace long-standing communities and erode cultural heritage. Addressing these challenges requires
9922-502: The government. People remain living inside the buildings during the renovation period, which usually lasts for over a year, leading to concerns about exposure to construction dust and the possible presence of asbestos. Such rehabilitation works are common in districts with older buildings, like Kowloon City, Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po, Yao Ma Tei and Tai Po. The government of Hong Kong has always been concerned with land shortage and has introduced various policies to increase land supply. One of
10043-593: The infrastructure and character of older city cores. This can have knock-on effects on society and culture more broadly. Professor Kenneth Paul Tan writes that Singapore's self-image of having succeeded against all odds has led to strong pressure to pursue progress and development regardless of the destructive cost, postulating that Singapore's "culture of comfort and affluence" has developed in order to cope with people's repeated loss of their sense of place, redirecting their desires from "community" towards "economic progress, upward mobility, affluent and convenient lifestyles and
10164-495: The interior mezzanine. Hines completed redevelopment of Towers 500 and 600 for GM in 2004. The Riverfront Promenade was dedicated on December 17, 2004, and helped to usher in a return to recreational uses along Detroit's International Riverfront. GM played a key role in the transformation of the east riverfront with a donation of $ 135 million to the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy for the development of
10285-535: The interplay of renewal projects and social inequalities, for example when people face discrimination in the housing market based on racial identity. In the United States, urban redevelopment projects have often resulted in the displacement of low-income inhabitants and Black communities when their dwellings were taken and demolished. In the 1950s, a Southwest Washington renewal project (see Berman v. Parker ) displaced thousands of largely African-American families, but provided them with no replacement housing because at
10406-458: The largest projects since the 1980s have been the clearing of most of South Brisbane 's commercial heart to become South Bank for World Expo 88 and the transformation of large industrial parts of South Melbourne to become the modern hi-rise dominated precinct Southbank . More recent ongoing projects include Darling Harbour in Sydney and Docklands in Melbourne in the late 1980s as well as South Wharf in Melbourne and Barangaroo in Sydney in
10527-649: The late 1940s under the rubric of reconstruction . In the context of urban renewal, "reconstruction" typically refers to efforts to rebuild and revitalize cities that were damaged during World War II. This phase involved not just repairing buildings, but also rethinking urban design, infrastructure, and housing policies. The impact of these initiatives was significant: cities were often reshaped with new zoning laws, transportation systems, and public housing projects. These changes aimed to accommodate growing populations and improve living conditions, but they also often led to displacement of communities and altered demographics. In
10648-1066: The late 20th century and now in the 21st century, urban renewal initiatives have often pursued three key goals: economic revitalization, social or cultural regeneration, and environmental sustainability. These efforts frequently aim to transform underutilized urban areas into hubs of economic and cultural activity, leveraging policies that promote both sustainability and equitable development. For example, green infrastructure projects , such as urban parks and community gardens, not only enhance property values but also foster social cohesion and provide environmental benefits like improved water management and biodiversity conservation. In recent years, urban renewal programs have increasingly involved " culturepreneurs ," individuals or organizations that blend cultural and economic strategies to reimagine urban spaces. These stakeholders often collaborate with governments and private entities to redevelop vacant land into dynamic public spaces, such as pop-up cultural venues or urban beaches. Culturepreneur initiatives are designed to bridge
10769-520: The low-income residents, and building plenty of highways to reach large scale urban sprawl. The Josefov neighborhood, or Old Jewish Quarter , in Prague was leveled and rebuilt in an effort at urban renewal between 1890 and 1913. The Urban Renewal Authority is the statutory body responsible for urban renewal in Hong Kong. The Operation Building Bright scheme was launched in 2009 and is subsidised by
10890-507: The main Wintergarden/Atwater Street entrance facing the Riverfront. The GM Renaissance Conference Center is located on the second floor of tower 300. The design is consistent with the themes of Brutalist architecture , especially in the heavy massing of concrete on the lower floors, but the 2001 renovation has softened those features. The "city within a city" concept was duplicated in the suburb of Southfield , when
11011-456: The massive center has struggled with declining occupancy, particularly stemming from increased remote work amidst the COVID-19 pandemic . General Motors has announced plans to relocate its headquarters away from the Renaissance Center in 2025, leaving the future of the complex uncertain; its redevelopment is currently under consideration, and could include full or partial demolition. The idea
11132-481: The new unit. Although this idea of metrification was abandoned by Napoleon, grades continued to be used in several fields and many scientific calculators support them. Decigrades ( 1 ⁄ 4,000 ) were used with French artillery sights in World War I. An angular mil , which is most used in military applications, has at least three specific variants, ranging from 1 ⁄ 6,400 to 1 ⁄ 6,000 . It
11253-527: The other side of Victoria Street was cleared and further Peabody estates were built after the Cross Act of 1875 . In 1882, the Peabody Trust built the Abbey Orchard Estate on former marshland at the corner of Old Pye Street and Abbey Orchard Street. Like many of the social housing estates, the Abbey Orchard Estate was built following the square plan concept. Blocks of flats were built around
11374-514: The poor, the elderly and ethnic minorities. In 2016, Portland Development Commission apologised again after the funds instead went into multimillion-dollar apartment projects, the increasing prices force the African-American and other low-income residents out of the market. The impact of urban renewal on marginalized communities has been well-documented in ethnographic studies. Rebuilding Shattered Worlds: Creating Community by Voicing
11495-450: The power to take private property for public use . However, cases have emerged in the United States in cases where the land acquired was not put to any public use. For example, the Kelo v. City of New London lawsuit ruled that eminent domain may instead transfer acquired private property into private ownership in the case of renewal schemes. The case was brought by a homeowner whose house
11616-631: The project as a complete rebuilding from bridge to bridge, referring to the area between the Ambassador Bridge , that connects Detroit to Windsor, Ontario , and the MacArthur Bridge, which connects the city with Belle Isle Park . The Detroit Renaissance announced the first phase of construction in 1971, receiving primary financing from the Ford Motor Company . It soon became the world's largest private development with an anticipated 1971 cost of $ 500 million. The principal architect
11737-627: The prosperity of the eastern district and the convenience of urban life for existing residents. The center's purpose was to expand business investment in the area and attract international financial services and technology firms. It also planned for residential development by building a completely new community. The Xinyi Project Area is the only commercial development area in Taipei with a wholly planned street and urban design. In addition to attracting corporations, it also features large retail spaces, department stores, and shopping malls. Xinyi Special District
11858-514: The provision of housing and post-war reconstruction in the United Kingdom, was commissioned by Parliament as a response to the shocking lack of fitness amongst many recruits during the War; this was attributed to poor living conditions, a belief summed up in a housing poster of the period "you cannot expect to get an A1 population out of C3 homes". Degree (angle) A degree (in full,
11979-597: The rebuilding of an area of some 15-acre (6.1 ha), including the Nichol and Snow estates, and a small piece on the Shoreditch side of Boundary Street, formally Cock Lane. The slum clearance began in 1891 and included 730 houses inhabited by 5,719 people. The LCC architects designed 21 and Rowland Plumbe two of 23 blocks containing between 10 and 85 tenements each. A total of 1,069 tenements, mostly two or three-roomed, were planned to accommodate 5,524 persons. The project
12100-417: The remaining office towers would be converted to rental apartments; the central tower would remain a hotel, but its upper floors would also be converted to rental apartments. The two companies state that they plan to provide the majority of the $ 1.6 billion required for the proposed redevelopment, but expect $ 250 million in subsidies from the state of Michigan, and $ 100 million in tax-increment financing from
12221-401: The renovation of the office towers. The majority of the construction operations were led by Turner Construction Company. The structural glass and steel for the Wintergarden, the entrance lobby as well as the mezzanine glass walkway were contributed by Mero. The cost of the renovation does not include the cost for reconfiguring the streets around the Renaissance Center or the cost of the park along
12342-548: The resistance of people who used to live in the slums and squatters. It was reported by Singapore newspapers that those people were reluctant to be replaced. This became the major problems of 1960s redevelopment schemes. Affordable land value also became one of its reasons. Another problem was that the government had to purchase the private land owned by the middle and upper society to make the land vacant and be used for redevelopment. Urban regeneration in South Korea began in
12463-718: The respective venues for the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions . The US portal of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel emerges adjacent to the western boundary of the Renaissance Center. The Renaissance Center is also a station on the Detroit People Mover. Additionally a pedestrian skyway, over Jefferson Avenue, connects the complex to the Millender Center. Several blocks to the west of the Renaissance Center, along Jefferson Avenue, there are
12584-520: The tallest hotel in the world. It remains the tallest all hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. The smaller cylinders on sides of all the towers house the elevators . The four surrounding 39-story office towers (100–400) each reach 522 feet (159 m) and have a total of 2,200,000 square feet (204,400 m) of space. Each 39-story tower has a base five-story podium structure with 165,000 square feet (15,300 m) for retail space for
12705-476: The tenants are temporarily evacuated for the duration of the work and the developer pays for their alternative accommodation. In both programs, the developers add more apartments so as to sell them to additional tenants and make a profit. In Italy, the concept of urban renewal had been having the classical meaning of "recovery", "re-use", and also "redevelopment" for many years. It has not been long time that this meaning has changed, or has begun to change, towards
12826-1033: The time the law did not provide for any. A model established to improve the growth and urbanization of American cities instead harmed the welfare of many communities. Increasingly, urban redevelopment led to residents being replaced, not by new residents, but by shopping malls, automobile factories and dealerships, and big-box stores . Replacement housing – particularly in the form of high-rise housing for low-income tenants – has not been successful. Hostile architectural designs, together with low-quality construction and maintenance have often led to rapid deterioration and abandonment of these projects. Public housing projects like Cabrini-Green in Chicago and Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis became so bad that they had to be demolished. In 2000, Portland, Oregon city leaders promised residents whose communities had already been decimated through urban renewal programs that their latest scheme would benefit
12947-924: The top of its towers (Towers 500 and 600 utilize traditional blue floodlights to illuminate their top floors). General Motors added a large illuminated LED corporate logo which also displays GM divisions. The animated logo and illuminated LED color bands around the towers can be used to support special events and may be seen from Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. The renovation of TCF Center convention and exhibit facility incorporates similar blue neon lighting along riverfront promenade. In July 2010, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan announced plans to lease 435,245 square feet (40,435.6 m) of Tower 500 and Tower 600 and relocate 3,000 of its employees from its building in Southfield, Michigan. In January 2015, General Motors announced its intent to renovate much of
13068-588: The traditional sexagesimal unit subdivisions can be used: one degree is divided into 60 minutes (of arc) , and one minute into 60 seconds (of arc) . Use of degrees-minutes-seconds is also called DMS notation . These subdivisions, also called the arcminute and arcsecond , are represented by a single prime (′) and double prime (″) respectively. For example, 40.1875° = 40° 11′ 15″ . Additional precision can be provided using decimal fractions of an arcsecond. Maritime charts are marked in degrees and decimal minutes to facilitate measurement; 1 minute of latitude
13189-448: The urban development in China for the past decade is strikingly similar to the situation in many Western countries. In terms of the similarity sharing with U.S. urban renewal programs, both countries viewed older neighborhoods as outdated and blighted, encouraged local governments to cooperate with local development interests for downtown redevelopment, failed to provide enough support and concern for residents of cleared areas, who often were
13310-425: The urban environment in a more sustainable and reasonable way. At the 15th China Central City Work Conference, the policy, "urban repair and ecological restoration ," was put forward. Immediately thereafter, new urban renewal models such as Guangzhou's micro-renovation and Shanghai's micro-renewal appeared to lead the trend of a new era of urban renewal programs in China. “Planning is inherently political”, however,
13431-751: The urban regeneration as "the coordinated set of urban-building interventions and social initiatives that can include replacement, re-use, redevelopment of the built environment and reorganization of the urban landscape by mean of recovery of degraded, underused or abandoned areas, as well as through the creation and management of infrastructure, green spaces and services […] with a horizon towards sustainability and environmental and social resilience, technological innovation and increasing biodiversity" (Art 2. L.R.18/2019). The same law introduces some rewards reserved to whom builds for social purposes. Moreover, these rewards are also reserved for those who carry on some particular implementation models. For instance, you can increase
13552-497: The volume of your building whenever "integrated safety systems and construction site risk management processes are applied; methods that are based on traceability and control activities, with particular reference to soil movement and waste traceability, based on advanced technologies", the increase in the building index is recognized in the art. 3 and these rewards are also given when technologies as geolocation, video surveillance and perimeter protection are implemented in order to prevent
13673-492: The war, Singapore's housing environment had already been a problem. The tension of both infrastructure and housing conditions were worsened by the rapidly increasing number of the Singapore population in the 1930s. As a consequence of the war and the lack of economic development, between the 1940s to the 1950s, the previous evil of housing conditions continued to happen. As much as 240,000 squatters were placed in Singapore during
13794-995: Was John Portman , the architect behind the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel and the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, Georgia ; the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, California ; and the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California . The city within a city arose. The first phase of Renaissance Center opened on July 1, 1976. For phase I, the facade of the first five towers was covered with 2,000,000 square feet (186,000 m) of glass, and used about 400,000 cubic yards (310,000 m) of concrete. This did not include
13915-498: Was acquired and demolished by a private company after the verdict. The company did not complete its contracted construction, leaving the plot empty. Similar occurred in the Rust Belt , where large areas of productive buildings were demolished to enable speculative future development which never materialized. Syracuse , Cincinnati , and Niagara Falls , among many others, cleared entire neighborhoods under urban renewal plans, only for
14036-528: Was carried out by Lombardy Region by mean of its Regional Law of 26 November 2019 - n. 18 "Simplification and incentive measures for urban and territorial regeneration, as well as for the recovery of existing building heritage. Changes and addendums to the regional law 11 March 2005, n. 12 (Law for the Government of the Territory) and other regional laws " Legge Regione Lombardia 18/2019 . This law defines
14157-525: Was designed to evoke street food stalls within East and Southeast Asia. Given the RenCen's prominent position in Detroit's skyline, it appears in a myriad of media depicting the city. The following is an incomplete list of notable appearances in popular media. Urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States )
14278-655: Was first conceived by Henry Ford II , then-chairman of the Ford Motor Company. In 1970, to bring his idea to life, Ford teamed up with other business leaders to form the Detroit Renaissance. This was a private non-profit development organization which Ford headed in order to stimulate building activity and revitalize the economy of Detroit . Henry Ford II sold the concept of the RenCen to the City and community leaders. Detroit Mayor Roman Gribbs touted
14399-530: Was hailed as setting "new aesthetic standards for housing the working classes" and included a new laundry, 188 shops, and 77 workshops. Churches and schools were preserved. Building for the project began in 1893 and it was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1900. Other such schemes in the 1880s, where newly cleared sites were sold on to developers, included Whitechapel , Wild Street, Whitecross Street and Clerkenwell . The 1917 Tudor Walters Committee Report into
14520-408: Was not about urban sprawl and real estate development on a large scale. China improved its urban development strategy by using inventory planning other than incremental planning. Chinese promoted urbanization aggressively as national policy. But due to the change from the concept of urban renewal in terms of its presentation from the physical dimension, China now promotes small-scale “repairs” to improve
14641-499: Was urgently put in action. Before that, the 1958 master plan had already been designed to solve the city problems. However, due to the lack of urban planning experts caused by the deficiency of professional staff, criticism came from many urban practitioners. The professional team recommended by the United Nations then was asked by the government to cope with the urban renewal matters and its redevelopment plan in 1961. Based on
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