Urban Renewal

"Urban Renewal Was Never Really A Planner's Idea"

So says APA President Mitchell Silver, AICP, in a recent interview. "...but planners were the agents, they had to implement it."

November 5, 2010 - Model D Newsletter

Nigerian Urban Renewal Project May Leave 200,000 Homeless

A waterfront redevelopment project in Port Harcourt is drawing fire from human rights advocates.

November 5, 2010 - The Guardian

EcoDistricts to Rise in Portland

Portland has five "eco-district" pilot projects in the works. The first two are expected to begin implementation over the next year, and organizers are hoping they lead to more sustainability efforts throughout the city.

October 27, 2010 - Sustainable Business Oregon

After Urban Renewal, Learning From New York City

Mary Newsom reviews a new book on New York City by Roberta Brandez Gratz, and finds lessons that cross borders even into her very different city of Charlotte.

September 20, 2010 - The Charlotte Observer

'Next Exit for Transportation's Future' is Generally Banal

The latest planning exhibition at the Center for Architecture has a "certain 1970s openness, a live-and-let-live philosophy, a crunchy impression enhanced by the bicycles hanging in the Center’s double-height display window," says Alexandra Lange.

July 30, 2010 - The Architect's Newspaper

Baltimore Points The Way Forward For Urban Renewal

Neal Peirce describes how Baltimore's first mixed income neighborhood since WWII is taking shape on the east side just north of the Johns Hopkins campus.

June 28, 2010 - Citiwire

Planning for the Future of London's Olympic Park

To ensure its longevity, developers of London's Olympic Park have made integration of its facilities into a larger urban renewal plan a priority.

June 24, 2010 - WSJ.com

Citizens Fight Cookie-Cutter Design in Birmingham

Residents of Birmingham, Alabama are rallying against a drive-through Chick-fil-A going up in their neighborhood, showing a growing awareness of the effect of development on the character of their community.

May 29, 2010 - The Birmingham News

The Lost Faith of City Planning

Witold Rybczynski says that people have lost their faith in city-driven urban planning, and that the private marketplace is driving the changes we need today.

April 5, 2010 - Slate

Massive Redevelopment Plan for Thames Gateway

An extensive redevelopment program is planned for East London, in an area one commenter calls "the land that God forgot."

March 5, 2010 - The New Statesman

Good Bones

That's what a consultant told Robert L. Hubbard, city director of planning and community development of Gardner, Massachussetts, about the city's infrastructure. Gardner intends to build on those bones with an urban renewal plan.

January 18, 2010 - Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Some Silver Lining to Urban Renewal

Barry Johnson of The Oregonian looks back at Portland's urban renewal program, what was lost in the demolition of neighborhoods and what was gained.

December 17, 2009 - The Oregonian

Reviving a Hardscrabble Steel Town

Mayor John Fetterman of Braddock, PA struggles with the challenges of reviving a former steel town that has lost 90% of its peak population.

December 30, 2008 - Monthly Review

Urban Renewal: Tragedies and Ironies Yesterday and Today

One of the most interesting things that I have learned in school thus far is the history of the urban renewal program.  As a budding urban planner, I have often used the term “urban renewal” interchangeably with “urban revitalization” to describe the process of neighborhood improvement via economic and housing development.  Regardless of the term I used, I was very clear that revitalization – or renewal – was a catch-22.  The implementation of business and housing developments would jumpstart a neighborhood deemed blighted and consequently, only affluent residents could afford to enjoy the amenities of the revitalized neighborhood.

October 13, 2008 - Tamika Camille Gauvin

Continued Demolition Threatens New Orleans Character

In post-Katrina New Orleans, a fine line exists between razing potentially deadly structures, and harnessing a zeal for wholesale redevelopment.

October 7, 2008 - New Orleans City Business

Broad Urban Renewal Project Takes Over Baltimore Neighborhood

The expansion of a Baltimore hospital has sparked a neighborhood-wide urban renewal project.

August 8, 2008 - The New York Times

A Move Back into Cities Indicates Changing Middle-Class Mores

Author Alan Ehrenhalt says that conditions are ripe for the permanent return of downtown residential neighborhoods, and that a "demographic inversion" has already begun in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, DC, among other cities.

August 1, 2008 - The New Republic

America is Growing

The Guardian U.K. observes that the end of cheap oil is changing driving habits, boosting public transit use and encouraging localization. In short, they are making America a bigger place.

July 9, 2008 - The Guardian

The End of The Projects

Renee Lewis Glover, president and CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority, reflects on the troubled history of housing projects in Atlanta, GA, as the last of its kind in the city is demolished.

July 6, 2008 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Baltimore Neighborhood Looks to Transit for Revival

West Baltimore residents and community groups see a new light rail project as their way up for their blighted neighborhood.

June 30, 2008 - The Baltimore Sun

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

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