The Detroit–Windsor region is an international transborder agglomeration named for the American city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, the Canadian city of Windsor,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, and the

Detroit River The Detroit River is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

, which separates them. The Detroit–Windsor area acts as a critical commercial link straddling the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

and has a total population of 5,976,595.World Agglomerations
Retrieved on May 24, 2009. It is North America's largest cross-border

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

. The Detroit–Windsor area covers the southeastern Michigan counties of St. Clair, Macomb, Lapeer, Genesee, Livingston, Oakland, Washtenaw, Monroe and Wayne; as well as the southern

counties of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Lambton,

Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 103,988) is a Census divisions of Ontario#Single-tier municipalities, single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallac ...

, and the City of Windsor.

Overview

The Detroit–Windsor region is not accounted for as a single metropolitan area by the U.S. or Canadian government. If it were, the region would be the eighth most populous urban region in North America. Nevertheless, the communities have been historically tied by several partnerships and agreements, including the Detroit and Windsor Tunnel Corporation, the firm that is owned equally by the City of Detroit and City of Windsor and operates the tunnel. The cities are historically linked through the rise of the auto industry in both countries due to the U.S.-Canadian Auto Pact in the 1960s, and share geopolitical concerns affecting transportation and shared resources, such as the

. Many federal, state and provincial bi-national agreements affecting trade and border security also link the region. Today, increasing governmental co-operation is being formalized. On June 15, 2012, the construction of a new bridge between Windsor and Detroit was announced in the two cities by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Transport Minister Denis Lebel and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. The bridge announcement was a long-anticipated formalization of a new partnership between Canada and Michigan, with Canada paying the entire Michigan share of the new bridge, including a new interchange with Interstate 75. The joint

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

and U.S. Coast Guard Shiprider program of marine border security are examples. The increasing interdependence of Detroit–Windsor was recognized by U.S. regional business and government in 2007 when Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis was invited to take part in, and speak at, the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, a committee of regional business and political leaders, developed to address the economic and quality of life concerns that matter most to Southeast Michigan.

Economy

Detroit is home to the Big Three automobile companies. As a result, Windsor is home to the Chrysler Canada Headquarters and car plants for two of the "Big Three". The city of Detroit has experienced severe economic difficulties over the years. Population loss has been occurring continuously since the 1950s, so that the population has declined more than 60% since its peak, poverty and

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

have become significant problems, and at least 50,000 of the city's structures are abandoned. The affluent suburbs, however, are magnets for immigrants, wealth, and population growth. Windsor's economy is reliant on the automotive industry, but has diversified. As an example, Caesars Windsor casino, the largest in Canada, attracts visitors from the

Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

region. In fact, Kwame Kilpatrick stated that Detroit is transitioning "from a manufacturing economy to a casino economy" in his re-election campaign. Moreover, Windsor's economy has continued to diversify with several hundred green-energy jobs having been created as of June 2011. More capital investment in the city is expected, especially in the aerospace and air cargo industry. Windsor Airport is currently undergoing a major expansion, with an aircraft maintenance and repair hangar being constructed, as well as cargo facilities for air to rail/road transport. Many people commute across the Detroit–Windsor International border daily. Professions identified in the ''1988 Free Trade Act'' are permitted TN Visas for legal work in the United States and Canada. As an example, over 5,000 Windsor residents work, in the healthcare industry, and 16,000 overall in Metro Detroit as such, the industry is one of Windsor's largest indirect employers. One of the largest U.S. law firms, Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone P.L.C., has offices in both Windsor and Detroit. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 257,000 jobs in Michigan and $13 billion in annual production depend on the Detroit–Windsor international

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

crossing. With many new businesses in the suburbs, the region is competitive in

emerging technologies Emerging technologies are technology, technologies whose development, practical applications, or both are still largely unrealized. These technologies are generally innovation, new but also include old technologies finding new applications. Emer ...

including

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

, and hydrogen fuel cell development.

Demographics

Together, the two metropolitan areas have a population of almost 6,000,000 people, with 5.4 million in the Detroit area, 375,000 people in Essex County ( Windsor), 125,000 in Lambton County (

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

), and 110,000 in

. It is the second largest border region in the world, after

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

in Central Africa, with some 5,700,000 people living in its metropolitan area. The

side contains over one-half of the population of

, whereas Windsor and Sarnia contain only two percent of Ontario's population. An estimated 46 million people, nearly 16% of the U.S. population, live within a radius of the area, with other metropolitan areas within this radius, such as

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

;

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

;

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

;

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

;

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

;

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

;

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

;

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

;

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio;

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

; Northern Kentucky;

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

;

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

; Regional Municipality of Waterloo,

;

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

; Saginaw, Michigan;

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. While about four-fifths of the population of

lives outside the city itself, Windsor has a balanced population between the city of Windsor itself and the rest of Essex County. The Detroit metro area comprises over 200 cities, villages and townships ranging in population from the hundreds to the hundreds of thousands. Windsor's CMA, however, has only eight official municipalities (with Windsor being a recent separated municipality), consisting of LaSalle (pop. 30,200), Tecumseh (pop. 23,200), Amherstburg (pop. 22,000), Lakeshore (pop. 36,611) Leamington-Kingsville (pop. 49,150) and Windsor itself (pop. 229,660). Within each of these municipalities lie several smaller communities that serve as bedroom communities for Windsor's working force. Windsor has recently been given a boost by immigration. However, Detroit itself has less than half of its peak population.

References

External links

International MetropolisWorld Trade Center Detroit Windsor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Detroit-Windsor Metropolitan areas of Ontario Detroit River Populated places on the Detroit River Twin cities Canada–United States border Metro Detroit Transborder agglomerations

Overview

Economy

Demographics

See also

References

External links