Online / On-site

Online / On-site
Cartographic Connections
Across Detroit’s Digital Divide
Detroit is digitally divided. As investors pour money into the residential and commercial development
of areas like Downtown, Midtown, and Corktown, residents in marginalized neighborhoods do not
have the same access to information and communication technologies, nor the necessary skills to use
information effectively once they are connected. Referred to as “digital redlining,” this disinvestment
in infrastructure for less affluent, non-white communities is commensurate with discrimination. Many
of those affected are school-aged kids that need the Internet to complete their homework, submit
job applications, or simply socialize with their classmates. While research shows that most teens have
some access to the Internet via schools, libraries, or public WiFi connections, these young people are
at a severe disadvantage if their households are unable to get online. As various organizations work
to build a robust digital ecosystem, and urban development is influenced by broadband or wireless
accessibility, what kinds of egalitarian spaces emerge under such piecemeal techno-infrastructure?
If the Internet fosters a more complex sense of belonging, how is the built environment reconfiguring
to support evolving social structures and promote inclusion? How is access (or lack thereof) to
these virtual networks challenging conventional understandings of public and private space? How do
teenagers in the iGeneration occupy or navigate a metropolis that is significantly offline?

To address these questions, this project uses ‘thick mapping’ to describe various social landscapes
of Detroit; to unlock latent opportunities for assembly, public discourse, and digital justice; and to
prescribe an alternative future for the city, one that is rich with innovative ways to connect physically
and virtually.
By visualizing these invisible networks, this project hopes to create a heightened sense of community,
empower citizens to create new spaces for public discourse in their neighborhoods, and redefine
what digital access and equity could look like in their urban environments.
Detroit, MI
0 1 2 3 mi
 Tech Company

Rocket Fiber Availability

Tech Presence, 2019

0 1 2 3 mi
 Investment is consolidated to the downtown area.

Tech Company

Rocket Fiber Availability

Tech Presence, 2019

0 1 2 3 mi
 Public Library Park

Open School Museum

Closed School Church

Recreation Center Cafe

McDonald’s WiFi Hotspot

Municipal Building Rocket Fiber Availability

Places of Interest
0 1 2 3 mi
 5 Providers

4 Providers

3 Providers

2 Providers

1 Provider

Number of Internet Service Providers

0 1 2 3 mi
 > 1 GB < 50 MB < 6 MB

< 1 GB < 25 MB < 3 MB

< 100 MB < 10 MB < 1.5 MB

Maximum Residential Broadband Download Speed

0 1 2 3 mi
 First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

Fourth Grade

Redlining, 1939
0 1 2 3 mi
0 1 2 3 mi
Demographics
0 1 2 3 mi
 Black Asian

White Pacific Islander

Hispanic Native American

Race
0 1 2 3 mi
 $90,000 - $150,000 $30,000 - $40,000

$60,000 - $90,000 $25,000 - $30,000

$50,000 - $60,000 $15,000 - $25,000

$40,000 - $50,000 $6,532 - $15,000

Median Household Income

0 1 2 3 mi
 0-10% 30-40%

5-10% 40-60%

10-20% 60-80%

20-30% 80-99%

Unemployment
0 1 2 3 mi
 0-80 276-325

81-175 326-400

176-225 401-500

226-275 501-786

Youth Population
0 1 2 3 mi
Combined Data
0 1 2 3 mi
Sites of Interest
0 1 2 3 mi
Sites of Interest
0 1 2 3 mi
 Site Speculation #3

Site Speculation #2

Site Speculation #1

Sites of Interest
0 1 2 3 mi
 Site Speculation #3

Site Speculation #2

Number of Internet Service Providers: 3 or less

Download Speed: Medium
Race: Predominantly Black
Youth Population: Medium-high Number of Internet Service Providers: 2 or less
Median Household Income: Medium Download Speed: Medium to Slow
Unemployment Rate: Medium Race: Predominantly Black
Youth Population: Medium-high
Median Household Income: Low
Unemployment Rate: Medium-high

Site Speculation #1

Number of Internet Service Providers: 2 or less

Download Speed: Slow
Race: Predominantly Hispanic
Youth Population: High
Median Household Income: Medium-low
Unemployment Rate: Low

Sites of Interest
0 1 2 3 mi
 A Block

Site Speculation #3 A Neighborhood

Site Speculation #2

Number of Internet Service Providers: 3 or less

Download Speed: Medium
Race: Predominantly Black
Youth Population: Medium-high Number of Internet Service Providers: 2 or less
Median Household Income: Medium Download Speed: Medium to Slow
Unemployment Rate: Medium Race: Predominantly Black
Youth Population: Medium-high
Median Household Income: Low
Unemployment Rate: Medium-high

A Building

Site Speculation #1

Number of Internet Service Providers: 2 or less

Download Speed: Slow
Race: Predominantly Hispanic
Youth Population: High
Median Household Income: Medium-low
Unemployment Rate: Low

Sites of Interest
0 1 2 3 mi
 Hierarchical / Hub-and-Spoke Non-hierarchical / Mesh

Network Structures
 Hierarchical / Hub-and-Spoke Non-hierarchical / Mesh

Network Structures
Network Structures
Network Structures
 Wireless Mesh

Community Center

Fiber Backhaul

University Building
Wireless Backhaul

Library

Municipal Building

Commercial Building

Fiber Optic Backbone

Housing

University Building
Hospital

Community-driven Network Architecture

 Wireless Mesh - Backhaul to wireless access points in communities
- Residences and existing muncipal sites and mounting structures
- 2.4GHz and 5GHz unlicensed

Community Center

- Connects additional community anchors Fiber Backhaul

- Fiber points of presence (POPs) as backhaul for wireless mesh
- Public/private partnerships connect commercial buildings

University Building
Wireless Backhaul - Utilize existing municipal towers, light poles, etc.
- Fixed point-to-multipoint
- 2.4GHz, 5GHz unlicensed and 3.65GHz

Library

Municipal Building

Commercial Building

- Connects municipal and community anchor sites (CAIs) Fiber Optic Backbone
- Leverages university and institutional resources
- New construction financed through local governments or
public/private partnerships
Housing

University Building
Hospital

Community-driven Network Architecture Source: “Without Net Neutrality, Is It Time To Build Your Own Internet?” (www.inverse.com)
 Commercial Building Factory Apartment Building

Community-driven Network Architecture Source: Commotion Wireless (www.commotionwireless.net)

 Omnidirectional Router

Equipment Room
Router Directional Router

Existing Router

Existing Router

Access Point Additional Street Access Point

Commercial Building Factory Apartment Building

Community-driven Network Architecture Source: Commotion Wireless (www.commotionwireless.net)

 Apartment Building House House

Community-driven Network Architecture Source: Commotion Wireless (www.commotionwireless.net)

 Omnidirectional Router
Omnidirectional Router for Local Connections
Directional Router for Longer Distances

Ethernet Connection

Directional Router

Access Point

Access Point

Apartment Building House House

Community-driven Network Architecture Source: Commotion Wireless (www.commotionwireless.net)

Community-driven Network Architecture Source: Commotion Wireless (www.commotionwireless.net)
 Equipment Mounted Higher

The wireless signals can go further, thereby covering

more area and linking parts of the neighborhood or
town together. Directional routers can be used for
more direct point-to-point links, adding capacity in
sections of the neighborhood or town. Equipment
mounted very high up doesn’t provide a good
connection for the people on the ground or inside of
the buildings.
Line of Sight

Core Connections

Distributed Connections

Access Connections

Equipment in the Middle Equipment Mounted Lower

There are many ways to connect from the top of
the network to the bottom. Cables can run from the
top layer to Access Points where users connect, or
there could be a cluster of mesh nodes wirelessly
distributing access to a section of a neighborhood.
In other cases, point-to-point or point-to-multipoint
(common Wireless Internet Service Provider
techniques) can be used to provide connections to
the Access connections.
Wireless routers close to the ground provide better
coverage so people can connect their phones,
tablets or laptops to the network. Often times,
these routers can be replaced with simple low-cost
Access Point devices, and allow the higher layers
to determine how to connect to the rest of the
network.

Community-driven Network Architecture Source: Commotion Wireless (www.commotionwireless.net)

Online / On-site
Cartographic Connections
Across Detroit’s Digital Divide

Project Team:
Cyrus Peñarroyo, Salvador Lindquist, Reed Miller

This project was supported by the Michigan-Mellon Project on Egalitarianism and the Metropolis
University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning