Some areas of human habitation are timeless.  Cities of ancient lineage constructed as capitals of nations that endure over the ages; Jerusalem is one such city, but there are countless others, in the Middle East and in Europe and Asia that have survived long past the time of their early endowment as monuments to human beings' prideful endeavours.  Far outliving their destinies, they yet endure.  And some do not.  Some of these constructions of human ambition and hubris have long been abandoned, yet their shell remains, to awe those who view the remains as sacred to the memory of human aspiration.

Cambodia's 12th Century Angkor Wat is one of those fabled places originally built as a monument to the aspirations of an ancient kingdom, and a ruler who envisioned it as his capital, a place that would thrive and become a testament to his power.  Within its precincts, a temple, originally consecrated to one religion, and over time, reverting to the worshipful reverence of another.  No longer inhabited, but the fabulous, exotic design and its purpose continue to fascinate.

Bjorn Christian Torrissen

And then, there are modern cities, those that have been constructed to reflect modernity in another kind of culture, one that worships for example, other ideals, like the free enterprise system, and capitalism, and opportunities for a different kind of civilization where it was envisioned that people are equal, all privy to the same kind of opportunities, dreams and aspirations, and through applying oneself to the task at hand, nothing is impossible.

The City of Detroit in the United States, that exemplar of free-enterprise capitalism and republican democracy, is a fairly modern version of an ancient vision.  That city thrived because it became the central point for the manufacture of motorized vehicles that would transform the world through the potentials realized of transportation that made possible all manner of advances in modern technology, agriculture, commerce, and trade.

But the emergence of the automobile also made it possible to exit a city, leaving it a shell to decay with disuse and lack of upkeep.  Where the poverty-stricken were forced to stay and to live out their cramped existence with fewer municipal services to make life attractive.  Where inner-city schools took on the reputation of offering a poor grade of education for the young.  And in a country where racial divides endure, the white population seldom as poor as its black counterpart, moved out of the city.

Eventually factories that produced vehicles also moved out of that city once known as Motor City.  Leaving a lot of people without employment.  Many of whom continued to live there, in increasingly squalid conditions; many also who decided to abandon not only the city but their homes they could no longer afford.  And nor could anyone else in times of tight money.  And the city became further degraded, and crime rates soared and people soured.

The city with 1.8-million residents in 1950, could boast a mere 714,000 in 2010.  Unemployment, crime rates, sinking school standards all convinced people they could conceivably do much better for themselves elsewhere.  And elsewhere is where they gravitated to.  Leaving the city with debts of over $12-billion, and the governor of the state in a dilemma whether to replace local politicians with an emergency manager or simply allow the city to sink further into apathy and despair.

Bankruptcy imminent, the city has withdrawn sullenly into itself.  The largely black population feels disgruntled and betrayed.  No one appears prepared to rescue Detroit, to help it back to a situation of self-respect and financial capability.  Should the municipal politicians be removed from power those who voted them into power will have been completely abandoned to their misery with empty neighbourhoods and decaying properties, both private (abandoned) and public (equally abandoned).

"This is a city that's been on the edge for a long time.  what we see now is the culmination of a very long process, and the prognosis is grim. We're going to see more layoffs in a region that has already suffered an extraordinary number of redundancies", explained Lyke Thompson, director for Urban Studies at Wayne State University.

On the other hand, the Big Apple was once declared on the verge of bankruptcy; the state of California has flirted with insolvency.  Like the country itself, strained and depleted after a hard recession that struck globally, it too will endure.