Post-industrial cities are facing steep population loss and vast expanses of abandoned property - a phenomenon known as "shrinking." Dan Kildee. president of Community Progress and a leader in the Shrinking Cities movement. talks to Alison Stewart about the need for a national agenda, and the mental shift Americans will need to make before they stop seeing downsizing as failure.

Approximately 53% of Detroit's police force live in the suburbs. Now Detroit's Mayor Bing is trying to entice them back in by offering to contribute to their inner city housing costs. Safer communities and better schools drew them out... can cash incentives lure them back in?

A group of budding city planners in Detroit competes against students from more affluent suburbs to design the city of the future. A report from Detroit Public Television.

Detroit's mayor wants to rebuild the city by shrinking it to fit its population. Convincing residents to move will be challenging enough. Can he also convince commuters to move in?

Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City examines how Detroit, a symbol of America’s diminishing status in the world, may come to represent the future of transportation and progress in America.

An op-ed forum to discuss Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City. Use the below reactions and interpretations of the documentary from various transportation and Detroit-interested groups as a starting point to add your thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.

In documenting the Great Rescission, not many images are used more than those of a broken down Detroit. A city hit even harder by the financial struggles of the big three automobile companies, it has emptied -- built for 2 million people, it now has half that number. Nearly one-third of the land is unused, and some 80,000 homes are vacant. Still, one local couple sees potential. They are building the 'Power House'.

Two animated sequences in Beyond the Motor City attempt to show what a new transportation system in Detroit might look like. The Blueprint America team collaborated with transportation group America 2050 to create those sequences. America 2050's take on the animation kicks off the group's “A Better Tomorrow” project, an effort to visualize the future of a variety of American communities and transportation systems.

From Detroit Public Television (DPTV) -- Detroit's transportation future plays a starring role in Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City. DPTV and the Kresge Foundation recently hosted a screening and panel discussion at the Detroit Public Library.

Through two documentary projects (BEYOND THE MOTOR CITY and ROAD TO THE FUTURE), Blueprint America interviews today's thinkers and tells the stories of everyday Americans as an older country looks for its next move. As simplistic an idea as it may seem, a new transportation system could be the answer.