Toward the Meta-Industry City: A Retrofitting Urban Industry Strategy in the U.S. Sunbelt

U.S. urban industry has experienced remarkable transformations. At least two and a half centuries of evolution have changed location, productive processes, technology, sources of energy, and outputs. This article analyzes an attempt to help retrofit an aging urban industrial district in South Phoenix. It focuses specifically on mounting pressures to convert remaining, centrally located, industrial land to non-productive commercial and office uses. It is argued that the Wedge South Mountain industrial area presents advantages to the local community in terms of urban structure, proximity to labor pools, and good transport networks in the core of the Phoenix metropolis. The methods comprised an Advanced Urban Planning Studio at Arizona State University, multiple inventories and site visits, presentations, and feedback from guest speakers and economic development specialists at the City of Phoenix and at the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. The main policy recommendations are to preserve small-business activities, modernize neighborhoods along industrial park settings with green and environmental strategies (i.e., parasols and solar panels), and encourage growth in the technology manufacturing sector. The key finding is a series of implications for the retrofitting of other urban industrial areas in the Global North.