Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said the city early next year will begin offering residents "non-financial" incentives to relocate to certain areas under a plan to shrink its boundaries.
Bing told the Detroit Free Press last week that officials will ask residents to move into one of nine so-called population centers that will be unveiled in the spring as part of the Detroit Works Project — his plan to reshape the city. Bing did not specify what the incentives to move would be.
Officials hope to develop the population centers into densely populated, viable neighborhoods. Residents who do not move would likely be cut off from most public services, including garbage pick-up, lighting, and police protection.
It is unclear how much of the city's 139 miles will be occupied under the new plan, though Bing said he expects to cut off services to nearly 45 square miles after it's implemented, local reports said. A third of the city now is vacant.
Bing also last week told a local television station that he expects to make an announcement in early 2011 regarding residency requirements of city employees, including police and firefighters. Detroit currently bans residency requirements for city employees.
Officials will hold up to 40 more public meetings through the spring as they continue to craft the Detroit Works Project.
Detroit's population is expected to be 850,000 after the upcoming U.S. Census count. Its population was two million after World War II.
