Detroit - broken city

A vehicle is crushed at US Auto Supply in Detroit. Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

Detroit is known as Motor City for its once-thriving automobile industry, but now the Packard Motor Car factory stands as a symbol of the city's slow decline.

A mass exodus has been cited as a key factor in Detroit's demise. A population that in the 1950s reached 1.8 million is struggling to stay above 700,000. The city lost a quarter of a million residents between 2000 and 2010.

Thousands of homes in Detroit have been abandoned. Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

It has the highest violent crime rate of any major US city, with 15,245 reported incidents in 2011.

Lunch at a basement soup kitchen in a deprived pocket of the city. Credit: REUTERS/Mark Blinch

Detroit's debt is estimated to be $18.5 billion (about £12 million). Only a third of ambulances in the city are in service, and 40% of street lights do not work.

A decayed Catholic Church, stripped by theives of its copper and stained glass. Credit: REUTERS/Mark Blinch

Michigan state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr said bankruptcy was the "first step toward restoring the city".

A dilapidated home in the city's Brightmoor neighborhood is torn down and swept away Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

Read: Detroit files for bankruptcy

A vehicle is crushed at US Auto Supply in Detroit. Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook