Urban renewal

Urban renewal, also known as urban regeneration or urban redevelopment, is a set of government or private initiatives aimed at addressing urban decay, upgrading infrastructure, and revitalizing city neighborhoods. Typically, urban renewal involves clearing "blighted" areas, followed by new construction for housing, businesses, and public spaces. While such projects can modernize cities and stimulate economic growth, they are controversial due to frequent displacement of low-income and minority communities, an effect sometimes considered gentrification.

History

Nineteenth century

The concept of urban renewal as a method for social reform emerged in England as a reaction to the increasingly cramped and unsanitary conditions of the urban poor in the rapidly industrializing cities of the nineteenth century. The agenda that emerged was a progressive doctrine that assumed better housing conditions would reform its residents morally and economically. Modern attempts at renewal began in the late nineteenth century in developed nations. However, urban reform imposed by the state for reasons of aesthetics and efficiency had already begun in 1853, with Haussmann's renovation of Paris ordered by Napoleon III.

The City Beautiful Movement was also a type of urban renewal originating from the United States which flourished in the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of beautifying cities. It was a part of the progressive social reform movement in North America under the leadership of the upper-middle class, which was concerned with poor living conditions in major cities. The movement sought to introduce beautiful boulevards and open avenues through cities, to introduce Beaux-Arts and Neoclassical Architecture to cities, and to sanitize them.

Twentieth century

Modern urban renewal experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s under the rubric of reconstruction.