Detroit, the cradle and center of the automotive industry, became on Thursday the largest American city to declare bankruptcy, according to court documents obtained by France Presse.
Detroit has lost half of its population over the last 60 years, and major companies have gradually left the city.
Detroit’s debt has risen to $18.5 billion. ‘Bankruptcy is the only solution that will allow Detroit to be a stable and sustainable city,’ said Rick Snyder, the governor of the state of Michigan, in a letter attached to the proposal for initiating bankruptcy proceedings in court.
Detroit, which had 1.8 million residents in 1950, now has 685,000. This decrease in population is accompanied by a mass exodus of businesses and a sharp decline in tax revenues. The number of public services has had to be gradually reduced, and the crisis is most vividly illustrated by the fact that some neighborhoods have no street lighting at night, reports Hina.
