Detroit is a city too often seen by narratives of decline; it is also a place of experimentation and reinvention—where land, culture, and community are being reimagined on new terms. Join us on Future Fridays to engage with personal stories from those shaping Detroit’s transformation, and to reflect on how identity, memory, and belonging inform what it means for a city to evolve. 

Detroit is frequently framed through stories of decline, but it is a powerful site of experimentation, creativity, and community-led reinvention. As land use, culture, and local economies are reimagined, the city offers important lessons about shaping people-first urban futures. 

This Future Fridays session brings together residents, designers, and civic leaders who are actively shaping Detroit’s evolution. Through personal narratives and conversation, participants will explore how memory, belonging, and identity shape Detroit’s transformation in ways that preserve culture while embracing change. 

About Future Fridays 

Future Fridays is the National Building Museum’s signature online series as part of the Future Cities initiative, hosted by James Darius Ball, director of Future Cities. Each one-hour session highlights the people, stories, and decisions that shape cities and everyday life in communities across the country. 

In its second year, the series emphasizes personal narratives and community perspectives, showing how residents, planners, designers, and civic leaders influence neighborhoods, public spaces, and city life. Participants can share their own perspectives, ask questions, and gain insight into how local choices reflect broader trends shaping American cities. 

Future Cities programming extends beyond Future Fridays, with a four-year slate of exhibitions, events, lectures, publications, digital activations, and community-based engagements designed to reach audiences from all walks of life and encourage participation in shaping the places where they live, work, and play.