AM800 Citybuilding: The Detroit Lions’ Victory and How Sports Contribute to Our Cities– with Dorian Moore and Mark Nickita

(17 January 2024)

In last week’s AM800 Citybuilding segment: urban designers, architects, and citybuilders Mark Nickita and Dorian Moore (also a C4C Housing Lab affiliate and UWindsor School of Creative Arts Professor) of Archive DS, an urban design and architecture firm based in Detroit, joined host Dan MacDonald to speak about the role of sports in citybuilding and placemaking. 

In the interview, Mark and Dorian, like the rest of Detroit, were riding a surge of enthusiasm following the Detroit Lions’ first home playoff victory, but Mark and Dorian maintain that that’s not all we should be celebrating. They suggest that Detroit is home one of the best built NFL stadiums in the league, both from a fan’s and an urbanist’s perspective– and that Detroit is the only American city that contains all of its sporting arenas in its downtown core. Detroit’s NFL Ford Field is built into a 100-year-old warehouse, adding charm, character, and history to the space. It and the other sports arenas are also surrounded by a dense mix of retail, residences, and restaurants– not a sea of parking– making them particularly walkable and people-centred spaces. People-centred, walkable, livable spaces are an emblem of smart, healthy citybuilding– something to celebrate, indeed! 

More broadly, too, sports not only contribute to the physical and economic fabric of a city, but they also contribute to the identity of a city, bringing a felt sense of togetherness amid particularly divisive times. In Mark’s words, “Sports are the icing on the cake” of a successful city– one rich in diversity of entertainment, retail, residential spaces, art, architecture, and people. 

Listen to the segment here, and stay connected with us learn more about how the Centre for Cities is helping to promote robust, healthy citybuilding locally and across Canada.