The Inner City And The Urban Future

Camden, New Jersey, is no one’s idea of the American city of the 21st century. Located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, this city of 83,000 began the 20th century as “one of the world’s greatest industrial centers”—as a 1917 pamphlet boasted—and ended it as one of America’s poorest cities. From the First World War through the Korean War, Camden remained unsurpassed as a center for American technological creativity and industrial production. Camden today is still unsurpassed—as a collection of brownfields and industrial ruins. The full text of this article is limited to ULI members.