Global changes and the transition from industrial to post-industrial cities, sees a rapid growth of the services sector more than production. This transition toward services have redesigned the lifestyle and the urban structure of cities. Most of the cities that changed through industrialization during the last two centuries, nowadays face the issue of unused spaces and derived problems. For this reason, the questions related to adaptive reuse and regeneration of the industrial cities bring the need for a multidisciplinary intervention. This thesis includes a historical overview of the transformation of the cities because of the process of industrialization and post-industrialization and more in detail of Detroit.