Reader Renewal

URBAN RENEWAL READER M. Arch.
II (City Design), Faculty of Architecture, SCET, Surat 1
URBAN RENEWAL THEORY READER
FOR M.ARCH IISEM III
STUDIO III
M.ARCH (CITY DESIGN)
FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE
SCET, SURAT
* This READER is based on compilation of various sources from reference books, web sites and other previous studies, produce for reference only.
URBAN RENEWAL READER M. Arch. II (City Design), Faculty of Architecture, SCET, Surat 2
Urban Renewal Theory
Urban Renewal -term

Definition: Urban Renewal
Basic Concepts
Need for urban Renewal
History of urban renewal
Issues of renewal
Urban renewal process
Importance of Urban Renewal
Urban renewal approaches
Urban Renewal methodology
This include
Understanding the Term URBAN RENEWAL, as concept and need, History of Urban renewal
and study of various issues such as social, physical, environmental, political, financial, etc. that
lead to urban renewal
Various methods in which renewal has been carried out in various parts of the world, success
and failure of those attempts and issues arising out of it Various scales at which renewal can
be carried out and system adopted for them
Study of an urban renewal example from various examples throughout the world
Indian, American, European, Eastern, British, Chinese, Hongkong, etc.
Study of the example from all the points discussed in the theoretical study
URBAN RENEWAL- TERM

Basic understanding of the term "Urban Renewal"; its origin and other terms associated with it such
as
Redevelopment
Revitalization
Rejuvenation
Regeneration
Reconstruction
Restoration
Rehabilitation
Restructuring
Reorganizing
Rebirth
Redlining
Replenishment
Rebuilding
Renovation
Rekindling
Restitution
Revival
Upgrading
Decongestion
Gentrification
Conservation
Preservation
DEFINITION : URBAN RNEWAL

Make new or as good as new, resuscitate, revivify, regenerate, patch, fill up, reinforce, replace,
begin or give a new (grow young again grant or be granted continuation), become new
again. This quotation from Oxford Dictionary presents an instant and comprehensive idea of what
Urban Renewal means.
The term urban renewal signifies a complex phenomenon interfacing the humans with their
physical, socioeconomic and historical relationships (R. Prasad 1989).
It is also termed as planners or governments reactions to some of the urban crises (Ayeni, 1985),
or, urban renewal is the answer to urban crises (Muttalib, 1989). G. Mukherji (1992) observes
that one of the necessary concomitants of urbanization and urban planning has been the urban
renewal.
Urban renewal is an ideology, a public policy and a process according to Muttalib. Certain
dictionary definitions are given below:
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in British English) is a process of land re-
development in areas of previous moderate to high density urban land use.
In Europe and the United States this process began an intense phase in the late 1940s and
continued at least through the 1980s. It has had a major impact on the urban landscape of many
cities and continues to do so in the present day.
It has played an important role in the history and demographics of cities around the world,
including; Beijing, China, Melbourne, Victoria; Saint John, New Brunswick; Glasgow, Scotland;
Boston, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California; and Bilbao, Spain. Commonly cited examples
include Canary Wharf, in London, and Cardiff in Wales
Rehabilitation of impoverished urban neighborhoods by large-scale renovation or reconstruction

of housing and public works.
The process where an urban neighborhood or area is improved and rehabilitated. The renewal
process can include demolishing old or run-down buildings, constructing new, up-to-date housing,
or adding in features like a theater or stadium.
Urban renewal is usually undergone for the purposes of persuading wealthier individuals to come
live in that area. Urban renewal is often part of the gentrification process.
BUSIBNESS DICTIONARY: URBAN RENEWAL
Process of redeveloping deteriorated section of a city, often through demolition and new
construction. Although urban renewal may be privately funded, it is most often associated with
government renewal programs.
The typical program attempts to demolish concentrations of dilapidated housing and attract
developers of middle-income or mixed housing. Often, however, urban renewal areas become sites
for new public buildings, such as civic auditoriums, sports arenas, and universities
REAL ESTATE DICTIONARY: URBAN RENEWAL
The process of redeveloping deteriorated sections of the city, often through Demolition and new
construction. Although urban renewal may be privately funded, it is most often associated with
government renewal programs.
Example: Most large cities have experienced some urban renewal in the last 20 years. The typical
program attempts to demolish concentrations of dilapidated housing and attract Developers of
middle-income or mixed housing. Often, however, urban renewal areas become Sites for new public
buildings, such as civic auditoriums, sports arenas, and universities
ARCHITECTURE:
The improvement of slum, deteriorated, and underutilized areas of a city; generally implies
improvement realized through city, state, and particularly, federal programs, including the clearance
and redevelopment of slums, the rehabilitation of relatively sound structures, and conservation
measures to arrest the spread of deterioration.
ECONOMICS DICTIONARY:
Government-sponsored destruction of slum housing with a view to the construction of new housing.
Large-scale urban renewal was engaged in during the 1960s and 1970s, after the departure of the rich
and the middle class for America's suburbs had left many United States cities in decay and disrepair.
SCIENCE DICTIONARY:
Programs designed to clear, rebuild, and redevelop urban slums. Critics contend that although they
bulldoze slums, urban renewal programs often have led to their replacement by office buildings and
by apartment houses for the well-to-do.
WIKIPEDIA
Urban renewal (similar to urban regeneration in British English) is a program of land redevelopment
in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its
modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense
phase in the late 1940s under the rubric of reconstruction. The process has had a major impact on
many urban landscapes, and has played an important role in the history and demographics of cities
around the world.
Urban renewal may involve relocation of businesses, the demolition of historic structures, the
relocation of people, and the use of eminent domain (government purchase of property for public
use) as a legal instrument to take private property for city-initiated development projects.
In some cases, renewal may result in urban sprawl or less congestion when areas of cities have been
demolished and replaced by freeways and expressways, housing projects, and vacant lots as the
outcome of incomplete projects.
Urban renewal has been seen by proponents as an economic engine and a reform mechanism and by
opponents as a regressive mechanism for enriching the wealthy at the expense of taxpayers and the
poor. It carries may enhance existing communities, and in some cases result in the destruction of
neighborhoods.
Many cities link the revitalization of the central business district and gentrification of residential
neighborhoods to earlier urban renewal programs. Over time, urban renewal evolved into a policy
based less on destruction and more on renovation and investment, and today is an integral part of
many local governments, often combined with small and big business incentives. But even in this
adapted form, Urban Renewal projects are widely accused of abuse and corruption.
Rehabilitation of deteriorated or distressed urban areas, as by slum clearance and redevelopment

construction in housing and public facilities. Programs designed to clear, rebuild, and redevelop urban
slums. Critics contend that although they bulldoze slums, urban renewal programs often have led to
their replacement by office buildings and by apartment houses for the well-to-do. Government-
sponsored destruction of slum housing with a view to the construction of new housing.
BASIC CONCEPTS
The concept of urban renewal can be said to be a constant remodeling of the urban fabric and the
pattern which embraces rehabilitation and conservation as well as redevelopment; and is carried out
on a part of general plan for the development of the town, city or region. Urban renewal as a
concept takes in to account the rejuvenation of existing urban areas to make them more efficient in
their functioning. Urban areas need to be upgraded in terms of infrastructure and resources to cater
to the changing function with time.
Urban renewal in the past has been primarily directed slum clearance; it is this limited approach that
accounts for the indifferent success of the Urban Renewal projects in all but a very few outstanding
cases. In order to be truly successful; in the sense of recreating our cities and suburbs as desirable
places for future living and work; urban renewal must be approached from the broadest possible
point of view.
Urban Renewal is the total approach to the problem of the neighborhood decay. It requires a
comprehensive program with the active involvement.
Due to tremendous growth pressure and haphazard urban development taking place all around,
our cities are fast loosing their character and identity. The heavy dose of migration in recent time
into urban settlements in search of jobs have not only densified but also bulged an intruded the
fringe area the environmental quality is slowly sliding down and urban decay is going on in terms
of both physical and social aspects. Poor civic services, dilapidated buildings, congested public
places, traffic flow at a walking speed, etc., are some of the notable symptoms to reflect on the
sickness of our cities. This situation demands for urgent corrective renewal measures, if the fabric
of urban life is to be set in right perspective.
Urban renewal is the answer to urban cities an increasing universal phenomenon. The term
urban renewal signifies a complex phenomenon interfacing the humans with their physical socio-
economic and historical relationships. In broader frame, the terms involves renewing the urban
life where the process of degeneration or decline is set into motion due to variety of factors like
technological advances, industrialization, modernization and their cumulative impact on the
settlement pattern and social organization.
Urban renewal is a process of re-planning and comprehensive redevelopment of land, structure,

physical and social infrastructure; conservation and rehabilitation of areas which have been
threatened by declined and blight are the other facets of the urban renewal. It is a process of
recycling urban property or environment to new use, reuse or proper use, without significant
alteration in the fabric.
Indian cities are not exemption to the universal urban renewal phenomenon. The rapid
urbanization taking place in our cities is not only transforming the historical environment
prevailing there once upon a time to highly congested and dull areas.
The rapid growth of cities in the recent decade has put the urban planners in an unbelievable
position. The city center has become an issue today and has attracted a lot of attention. It also
plays an important role in the life and economy of the city.
This demand for urgent corrective renewal measures, immediate action to replan the existing
town and cities, which have been deteriorated with time.
Background
Urban Renewal, a concept of American origin in the post World War II era, initially referred to
slum clearance and housing but has gradually evolved into a multidimensional concept. It is
increasingly being looked at as an answer to the multi faceted urban crisis, which is a universal
phenomenon.
Although widely debated and variedly interpreted in the context of changing time, place problems
and needs, it is universally accepted that urban renewal is a complex phenomenon and has several
aspects.
It includes slum clearance and improvement, provision of housing, provision of adequate social
facilities and civic amenities, creation of infrastructure, road widening and traffic regulation,
improving the visual appearance of old areas and creation of better living environment, and
preservation of historical monuments / areas, etc. Stated simply, urban renewal is a combination
of the process of rehabilitation, conservation and redevelopment. It is the nature and stage of
decay that determines the strategy to be adopted: rehabilitation, conservation or
redevelopment or a combination of them.
However, be it rehabilitation, redevelopment, conservation or a combination of one or two or all

of them, a comprehensive urban renewal exercise involves technological interventions, planning
and partnership / networking between various agencies and authorities
NEED FOR URBAN RENEWAL

Urban development in the historical perspective is a cyclic phenomenon depicting continuous
renewal in physical as well as socio-economic aspects of human settlements. As decline and
renewal are inevitable processes the balancing factors is the pace of change.
In the earlier generation, the change was slower but the twentieth century is witnessing dramatic
acceleration resulting in radical disruption in the physical and socio economic aspects of urban
settlements.
The migration of rural people into major urban settlements led to rapid expansion, encompassing
the fringe areas. The older areas, through rapid population growth could attract least for private
or public investments and were allowed to deteriorate.
Inner city is a microcosm of deprivation, economic decline and social disintegration. It presents
increased population, a form of decaying and dilapidated houses, decreasing incomes, inadequate
transport, etc. in short the scenario is of economic decline, physical decay and adverse social
conditions.
Unless renewal of inner cities/cities takes place it will throw the people to face the future of
decline. The neglect of central areas of major cities had adverse impact on their physical and socio
economic conditions. Most of historic buildings and housing stock remained in a dilapidated
condition as the owners could not maintain them properly due to decreased income levels.
The low cost of living has helped the growth at economically weaker settlements and slums. The
neglect of civic communities and transport often led to critical riots and agitation to attract the
attention of the authorities concerned. The existing social maladies like high propensity for crime
delinquency, communal unrest, etc. are often exploited by the ill-motivated political interest
groups.
It eventually depicts a morbid picture of human neglect not only of the physical but also of the
non physical aspect of human form. It is also the fact the city grows as dynamic organisms and the
growth exerts new and unexpected pressure in inner areas for vocational benefits.
The need for urban renewal arises for the most distressing problem of the slums. Near the city
center there are large areas where usually the houses have been densely built and living
conditions are appalling. Slum improvement or clearance is such an acute problem in almost all
the cities that urban renewal programmes have always been found on it.
Urban renewal an understanding
Urban development is a recurring phenomenon showing continuous rise, decline and renewal of
socio economic aspects of human settlements. The personality and character of any city is the
result of these centuries of growth; in the course of which new elements are constantly
juxtaposed with the older ones. Most of the cities have at their core; the areas of strong
architectural and urban characters. Though being places of life, vitality, wealth, power,
enlightenment and culture, these inner city areas have been marginalized and are loosing their
identity in the fast process of urban and economic growth. The main factor behind this was the
strong economic and social forces of industrial revolution in 1920s and 1930s; that created the
drift away from these inner cities: the core of skills and wealth; which has continued to the
present day.
The inner city; as a result; presents most dramatic and interrelated problems. It experiences
deprivation; economic decline and social disintegration; and presents a phenomenon of decaying
and dilapidated houses, increased population, decreasing incomes, inadequate transport, uncared
people, residual land use, etc. Most of the historic buildings and traditional housing blocks remain
in a dilapidated condition as the owner could not maintain them properly due to decreased
income levels or negligence or any other administrative reasons. The low cost of living has helped
the growth of economically weaker settlements and slums. The neglect of civic amenities and
transport often led to racial riots and agitations to attract attention of the concerned authorities.
The existing social problems like high tendency of crime and delinquency, communal unrest etc.
are often exploited by the ill motivated political interest groups.
The infrastructure facilities which were initially designed for a limited few are now used by many
and over pressured. Narrow streets and traffic congestions are the daily scenes, as core cities are
normally resulted from organic growth and hence are unable to expand. In short, the scenario is of
economic decline, physical decay and adverse social conditions.
Further, these older areas are somehow unable to attract private investments and NGO
participations. Thus they are allowed to deteriorate and the traditional fabric is lost. The pace of
change is now so dramatic that, without intervention, the model of the city with which people
have been familiar since the 19th century with its own traditional, ethical and architectural values
could rapidly become obsolete.
Why it is important to rejuvenate the inner cities?
Despite its present dilapidated condition the opu/lence and lifestyles of the past are still very
much in evidence in the form of innumerable public monuments and private mansions, though in
decay and in need of urgent repair. Many rich and middle class families belonging to different
ethnic groups still continue to live in the walled city. And in many of its areas there exists a high
quality of essential services like water, sanitation and sewerage. Land values in several areas of
the walled city are as high as those in the upper class area outside the walled city. Some people
would argue that it is not necessary to spend large sums of money on urban regeneration; why not
merely grass over the dereliction and let the cities decline. The response to this is complex. The
reasons for the importance of cities are very clear
The people who are already there are important. Further, there is also in existence the
infrastructure to support the people.
Cities are and always will be the focal point of civilized life. Great cities dignified themselves with
elegant buildings and fine spaces and this process continues today.
Cities came into being because people needed to transact business. Cities became market places
to trade in money and commodities. Those nineteenth century industrial cities which have
striven to create a strong image of themselves in recent years are now finding the investment of
great benefit to their economic recovery.
The most important thing is that thinly spread, suburban development cannot support good public
transport, neighborhood shopping or local industry, nor generate lively communities. Also the
thinner, dispersed city has proved to be ecologically unsound. It relies heavily on the car, creating
unmanageable levels of congestion and pollution, and it eats up valuable green spaces.
The discussion clearly indicates that though the walled city areas are today dilapidated, there is
still a hope of survival, of improvement, of getting life back to them. Urban renewal thus aims in
renewing the urban life where the process of degeneration or decline is set into motion due to
technological advancements; industrialization; modernization and their impact on the human
settlement pattern and social organizations.
HISTORY OF URBAN RENEWAL
Background:
Although urban renewal goes back at least to the rebuilding of Rome by Augustus, modern
attempts can be said to have started with late-19th century Paris and Baron Haussmann. By
the end of the Second Empire, Paris was the cultural center of Europe and one of the world's
most developed cities. Nevertheless, the physical infrastructure of the city was failing in the
face of increasingly rapid growthas the effects of the Industrial Revolution took hold and
combined with the economic impacts of war and social upheaval.
From the 1850s into the 1870s, Haussmann supervised a program which demolished large
areas of slums and narrow cross-streets, replacing them with new neighborhoods, plazas and
traffic circles, and the broad, tree-lined boulevards that are still the hallmark of Paris. His
program also rebuilt other infrastructure and services in the city: railroad lines, removal of
garbage, and large parks. It also led to large numbers of the working class and the poor being
forced to move to the suburban areas of Paris; 20th century redevelopment in Paris also has
been criticized for favoring the wealthy and pushing poor and minorities out of the central
area.[5]
Another story of urban renewal was the work of Robert Moses in the redevelopment of New
York City and New York State from the 1930s into the 1970s. Moses directed the construction
of new bridges, highways, housing projects, and public parks.
Moses was a controversial figure, both for his single-minded zeal and for its impact on New
York City, as sweeping as Haussmann's was in Paris. Moses is responsible for most major traffic
arteries in the city and for its largest parks, except Central Park and Prospect Park.
The Renewal Policy adopted by the United States of America in the post war period led to
demolition of old, dilapidated buildings and replacing them with modern structures. Efforts are
being made for renewal of the CBD or down towns with the active participation of
governmental and voluntary agencies, local bodies and the community. From content
perspective, urban renewal encompasses a wide range of functions: preservation of historical
buildings and natural environs, utilisation of old buildings, provision of housing, improvements
to the civic infrastructure and traffic and transportation, and development of economic
fucntions, etc. however strategy varies depending upon the local situation. In England, the
policy of the inner cities paved the way for a number of projects in larger cities and towns
aimed at tackling a broad range of economic, environmental and social problems of urban
deprivation on a partnership basis between people and the government. The policy on inner
cities had made it clear that involving local people is a necessary means for the regeneration of
urban areas. Public authorities need to draw on the ideas of local residents, to identify the
priorities and to enable them to play a practical role in reviving their areas. Self help is
important and so is community effort. It is based on the philosophy that effective creative
action is possible in cities with the active participation of the people who live and work in cities.
Only through partnership renewal plans can be effectively implemented.
Redlining and Segregation
Redlining began with the Housing Act of 1934 which established the Federal Housing Authority
(FHA) to improve housing conditions and standards, and later led to the formation of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While it was designed to develop
housing for poor residents of urban areas, that act also required cities to target specific areas
and neighborhoods for different racial groups, and certain areas of cities were not eligible to
receive loans at all. This meant that ethnic minorities could only secure mortgages in certain
areas, and resulted in a large increase in the residential racial segregation on the United States.
Redlining is the practice of denying, or increasing the cost of services such as banking, insurance, access to
jobs,[2] access to health care,[3] or even supermarkets[4] to residents in certain, often racially determined,[5] areas. The term
"redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a Northwestern University sociologist and community
activist.[6] It describes the practice of marking a red line on a map to delineate the area where banks would not invest; later
the term was applied to discrimination against a particular group of people (usually by race or sex) no matter the
geography. During the heyday of redlining, the areas most frequently discriminated against were black inner
city neighborhoods. For example, in Atlanta, through at least the 1980s, this practice meant that banks would often lend to
lower-income whites but not to middle- or upper-income blacks.[7]
Reverse redlining occurs when a lender or insurer particularly targets minority consumers, not to deny them loans or
insurance, but rather to charge them more than would be charged to a similarly situated majority consumer. [8][9]

This was followed by the Housing Act of 1937, which created the U.S. Housing Agency and the
nation's first public housing program the Low Rent Public Housing Program. This was the
beginning of the large public housing projects that later became one of the hallmarks of urban
renewal in the United States: it provided funding to local governments to build new public
housing, but required that slum housing be demolished prior to any construction.
Postwar Problems and Suburban Growth
In 1944, the GI Bill (officially the Serviceman's Readjustment Act) guaranteed Veterans
Administration (VA) mortgages to veterans under favorable terms, which fueled
suburbanization after the end of World War II, as places like Levittown, New York, Warren,
Michigan, Greenbelt, Maryland, and the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles were transformed
from farmland into cities occupied by tens of thousands of families in a few short years.
Housing Act of 1949
The Housing Act of 1949 marked a major move towards the wholesale demolition of urban
slums. It provided a large amount of funding for slum clearance. Entire neighborhoods were
torn down in anticipation of new, tax-generating developments coming in its place. It
extended the provisions of previous housing acts by underwriting additional loans, but further
restricted the types of loans that the government would guarantee. Loans for new housing
would be made only for a single owner, effectively pricing those of more moderate means who
could only afford to live in multifamily buildings out of the market, and most banks now
practiced redlining. Appraisal manuals from the FHA instructed loan originators to avoid
neighborhoods with "inharmonious racial groups" recommending that cities and towns enact
zoning ordinances that restricted area to Whites, and to enact covenants prohibiting African
American owners. Homes (and neighborhoods and entire cities) were now legally restricted to
"individuals of the Caucasian race." Discrimination in the housing was now the norm in all
parts of the country and housing values declined rapidly in minority neighborhoods.
Urban Destruction
Under the powerful influence of multimillionaire R.K. Mellon, Pittsburgh became the first
major city to undertake a modern urban-renewal program in May 1950. Pittsburgh was
famous around the world as one of the dirtiest and most economically depressed cities, and
seemed ripe for urban renewal. A large section of downtown at the heart of the city was
demolished, converted to parks, office buildings, and a sports arena and renamed the Golden
Triangle in what was universally recognized as a major success. Other neighborhoods were
also subjected to urban renewal, but with mixed results. Some areas did improve, while other
areas, such as Liberty Hill and Lower Hill declined following ambitious projects that shifted
traffic patterns, blocked streets to vehicular traffic, isolated or divided neighborhoods with
highways, and removed large numbers of ethnic and minority residents.

In 1956, the Federal Aid Highway Act gave state and federal government complete control
over new highways, and often they were routed directly through vibrant urban neighborhoods
isolating or destroying many since the focus of the program was to bring traffic in and out
of the central cores of cities as expeditiously as possible and nine out of every ten dollars spent
came from the federal government. This resulted in a serious degradation of the tax bases of
many cities, isolated entire neighborhoods, and meant that existing commercial districts were
bypassed by the majority of commuters. Segregation continued to increase as communities
were displaced and many African Americans and Latinos were left with no other option than
moving into public housing while Whites moved to the suburbs in ever-greater numbers.

In Boston, one of the country's oldest cities, almost a third of the old city was demolished
including the historic West End to make way for a new highway, low and moderate
income high rises (which eventually became luxury housing), and new government and
commercial buildings. Later, this would be seen a tragedy by many residents and urban
planners, and one of the centerpieces of the redevelopment Government Center is still
considered an example of the excesses of urban renewal.
Reactions against Urban Renewal
In 1961, Jane Jacobs published The Death and Life of Great American Cities, one of the first
and strongest critiques of contemporary large-scale urban renewal. However, it would still
be a few years before organized movements began to oppose urban renewal.
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act removed racial deed restrictions on housing. This led to the
beginnings of desegregation of residential neighborhoods, but redlining continued to mean
that real estate agents continued to steer ethnic minorities to certain areas. The riots that
swept cities across the country from 1965 to 1967 damaged or destroyed additional areas of
major cities most drastically in Detroit during the 12th Street Riot.
By the 1970s many major cities developed opposition to the sweeping urban renewal plans for
their cities. In Boston, community activists halted construction of the proposed Southwest
Expressway but only after a three-mile long stretch of land had been cleared. In San
Francisco, Joseph Alioto was the first mayor to publicly repudiate the policy of urban renewal,
and with the backing of community groups, forced the state to end construction of highways
through the heart of the city. Between 1956 and 1966, more than 12% of the people in Atlanta
lost their homes to urban renewal, expressways, and a downtown building boom turned the
city into the showcase of the New South in the 1970s and 1980s.
From "Urban Renewal" To "Community Development
Some of the policies around urban renewal began to change under President Lyndon Johnson
and the War on Poverty, and in 1968, the Housing and Urban Development Act and The New
Communities Act of 1968 guaranteed private financing for private entrepreneurs to plan and
develop new communities. Subsequently, the Housing and Community Development Act of
1974 established the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG) which began in
earnest the focus on redevelopment of existing neighborhoods and properties, rather than
demolition of substandard housing and economically depressed areas.
Currently, a mix of renovation, selective demolition, commercial development, and tax
incentives is most often used to revitalize urban neighborhoods. Though not without its critics
- gentrification is still controversial, and often results in familiar patterns of poorer residents
being priced out of urban areas into suburbs or more depressed areas of cities urban
renewal in its present form is generally regarded as a great improvement over the policies of
the middle part of the 20th century. Some programs, such as that administered by Fresh
Ministries and Operation New Hope in Jacksonville, Florida attempt to develop communities,
while at the same time combining highly favorable loan programs with financial literacy
education so that poorer residents may still be able to afford their restored neighborhoods.
Other programs, such as that in Castleford in the UK and known as The Castleford Project seek
to establish a process of urban renewal which enables local citizens to have greater control
and ownership of the direction of their community and the way in which it overcomes market
failure. This supports important themes in urban renewal today, such as participation,
sustainability and trust - and government acting as advocate and 'enabler', rather than an
instrument of command and control.
During the 1990s the concept of culture-led regeneration gained ground. Examples most often
cited as successes include Temple Bar in Dublin where tourism was attracted to a bohemian
'cultural quarter', Barcelona where the 1992 Olympics provided a catalyst for infrastructure
improvements and the redevelopment of the water front area, and Bilbao where the building
of a new art museum was the focus for a new business district around the city's derelict dock
area. The approach has become very popular in the UK due to the availability of lottery
funding for capital projects and the vibrancy of the cultural and creative sectors. However,
while the arrival of Tate Modern in the London borough of Southwark may be heralded as a
catalyst to econmomc revival in its surrounding neighborhood, some civic authorities in the
U.K. - for instance Newcastle upon - Tyne and Gateshead have been accused of investing in
cultural facilities at the cost of other programs and projects.
Long Term Implications
Though a relatively new phenomenon in the history of urban planning, Urban Renewal has
attracted a lot of publicity and attention of not only planners, but also geographers,
sociologists, economists, voluntary organisations, politicians and governments. Perhaps no
other urban process has generated debate, controversy and interest to the extent attained by
urban renewal. Like the phenomenon of social change it has been greeted with maximum
opposition and then a slow but certain acceptance. Urban renewal is a costly affair; but is
necessary although. Urban renewal is controversial, as it often implies the use of eminent
domain law to enforce reclaiming private property for civic projects. While envisioned as a way
to redevelop residential slums and blighted commercial areas, "renewal" often resulted in the
creation of urban sprawlvast areas being demolished and replaced by freeways and
expressways, housing projects, and vacant lotssome of which remained vacant at the
beginning of the 21st century.
While urban renewal never lived up to the hopes of its original proponents, it has played an
undeniably important role in cities throughout the United States, England, and many other
nations. It has been hotly debated by politicians, urban planners, civic leaders, and current and
former residents of the areas where urban renewal took place in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
It has brought economic and cultural development to many cities, but often at a great cost to
low-income and minority communities living in them. It has also played a role in the economic
devastation faced by many of the major industrial cities in the United States since the 1940s. It
is only in the recent years that the need and significance of Urban Renewal is being realised in
India. However, In India; the case for urban renewal is a lot complex; compared to other
countries; as most of the towns have obtained a haphazard growth over the years.
Urban renewal continues to evolve as successes and failures are examined and new models of
development and redevelopment are tested and implemented. Over time, urban renewal
evolved into a policy based less on destruction and more on renovation and investment, and
today is an integral part of many local governments, often combined with small and big
business incentives.
Changes at the center
The changes in cities are of several kinds, may be in population density, land use, transportation,
living habits. These changes can occur anywhere in a city. Before 19 th century only three
dimension were important in the city i. e., length, width and height. But population explosion
introduces time as a fourth dimension, and the role of this dimension is continuously increasing in
importance.
In addition to the population explosion, another change occurs is due to addition of the
automobile. Soon in urban area it become much more important inhabitant than man himself in
size, strength, and speed.
The increase in population and automobile inevitably causes great changes at the center is
complicated by the fact that it must take place within a built up area. Thus the pressure of the
continuously expanding center gradually changes the structure of many residential areas it.
ISSUES OF RENEWAL
The objects of replanning existing towns are as follows .
To provide suitable means to control the future growth of the town in a co-ordinate manner
with proper arrangement of land use.
To provide healthy environment for the economics and social welfare of the community.
To add the necessary civic aesthetics of the town.
To correct the mistakes of the past and take proper precaution in the future and to suggest a
long range programme of corrective measures for the orderly growth of the town in future.
Large number of towns in the world came in to existence more than a hundred years ago, and due to
process of aging many areas have deteriorated badly. Excessive centralisation and activities related to
industry & trades have caused tremendous growth of urban population. Due to haphazard urban
development our cities are loosing their character and identify. Environmental quality is sliding down
and urban decay is going on in term of physical & social aspects.
Physical aspect Social aspect
Dilapidated buildings Poor civic services

Traffic flow at walking speed Congested public spaces
Encroachment Acute shortage of housing
Slums Uncontrolled settlements
Inadequate transportation Shortage of public utilities
Failure of communication system Community facilities
Haphazard physical growth Inadequate recreation facilities
Human neglect crime
The scenario of economic decline, physical decay and adverse social condition. Unless renewal of their
cities takes places, it will throw the people to take a future decline. This demand for urgent corrective
renewal measures, immediate action to replan the existing town and cities, which have been
deteriorated by time.
Urban renewal takes place in natural way, but there are many caused in which it can not keep up with
needs due to rapid economic and technological developments. Thus we are forced to begin to think of
renewal as public responsibility.
Urban renewal generally includes
Replacing and improving out molded facilities
Imposing new street patterns
Introducing efficient and mass transit
Convenient shopping facilities and recreation
Implementation adequate building; sanitary and housing codes
Zoning ordinances
Slum eradication
Townscape in urban renewal
The social functions of the town the influence of its geographical and political background.
The local topography will have influence on setting of a town and combined influence the
appearance of the urban fabric and that is the townscape.
Physically most towns derive their identify and personality from the way in which individual
buildings create general atmosphere and subsequent build up a local renewal.
It provides the visual impact through various townscape elements like, landscape, skyline,
focal point, architectural harmony, intercepts between the buildings and street edges etc.,
Preservation of town character is equally important in urban renewal. Process and townscape
design helps in these regards
URBAN RENEWAL PROCESS:
It is multidimensional, it has two aspects: 1) society and; 2) technology. The interface between
the two is the basis for the successful initiation and implementation of any programmes.
Renewal is a process to improve the towns or citys sub-standard localities and dwelling units
in order to prevent the deterioration of good residential areas and neighborhoods.
Renewal is a process to improve the towns or the citys sub standard localities and dwelling
units in order to prevent the deterioration of good residential areas and neighborhoods. Town
centers today; are threatened by physical and functional danger. Not only the old buildings
decay; but also; even sooner they become inadequate for changing needs; the whole pattern
of the city center may prove inadequate. But; while the need for radical changes may seem
unavoidable; it is always important to preserve the best qualities of the traditional city
center; its finest buildings and the features; which give it life and character.
Urban renewal as an answer to urban crises is a universal phenomenon with increasing

importance. It has multi dimensional concept evoking multi disciplinary interest. As
Muttalib (1992) has put As an ideology it has come in conflict with the goals of freedom
and equality. As a public policy, it has given rise to a variety of basic socio economic,
political, organizational and managerial issues. As a process, it has exposed the hardware
approached of the urban planners, and thereby, has set in the process of learning and
unlearning with the conventional planners and managers.
Summing up the conceptual framework of urban renewal programmes, Kapoor states that
urban renewal does not begin and end up with re drawing a given areas map through
physical planning only. But, it involves critical decisions regarding the changing of economic
structure, attending to newer town planning needs, making up deficiencies in the civic
services, responding to the compulsions of transportation systems, conservation and
preservation of houses and neighbourhoods, boosting of civic revenues and attending to law
and order imperatives of the central cities.
Important aspects of urban renewal
CO-OPERATION: An urban renewal program involves the co-operation of various agencies such
as owners of private properties, tenants, local authority and government machinery.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN: After careful study of the present conditions, a development plan of the
town containing proposals for urban renewal is prepared and it is given wide publicity to
create public opinion in favor of its implementation.
FINANCE: An urban renewal project by its character and nature demands sizeable Funds
spread over a number of years; hence, its success depends, on adequate provision of finance.
LEGISLATION: An urban renewal project should be approved by the 3uthoritv concerned and
as such, it should be supported by a suitable legislative action.
PERIOD OF PROJECT: It is desirable to carry out the urban renewal project in stages spread
over a number of years.. The measures for urban renewal are divided into two classes, namely,
short-term measures and long-term measures.
Objectives Of Urban Renewal
Urban renewal is not supposed to be solely for the purpose of restoring stability to real estate
values, although this will result. It is not for the purpose of bailing out the investments of
landed gentry, since much of the decaying city pays dividends to its absentee owners.
It is not intended to recover speculative losses, since the curse of blight has fallen upon
property of those who cannot afford to join the flight to better places.
It is not for the purpose of reinforcing government bureaucracy, although the public that
these bureaus represent has a heavy stake in the problem.
It is not for the purpose of providing employment, although it will create unlimited
opportunities for labour in the fields and factories. Urban renewal is for none of these
specifically, but each is a part serving the main objective building a decent city for the
people. Source: Gallion and Eisner (1986).
Attempts to define the aims of urban renewal have been made since the unprecedented
upsurge of such programmers in 1960. Rothenberg (1967) provides a checklist of such aims
involving removal of slums and eradication of decayed property, as well as the provision of
safe, decent, sanitary housing in an environment desirable for all. Davis (1971) says that urban
renewal should also aim at reviving the downtown business areas attracting clean industry in
to the central areas, enhancing the financial strength and maintaining middle income
component in the central city.
This shows that, initially renewal programmers were conceived as reactions to more serious
fundamental problems associated with growth of cities. Peter Harris (1994), one of the
greatest scholars of urban renewal summarizes the aims or goals of urban renewal under
four major components as shown below:
Economic Goals: Need for the city government and commerce to rebuild the tax base, eroded
or declined by flight of activities and people form the central area.
Cultural Goals: Needs to maintain vitality of urban life represented in its heterogeneous
population, shops, restaurants, theatres
Integration list: By land use policies virtually reversing suburban for rich and wealthy making
residential structure the urban
Social Goals: To dilute and retard antisocial processes resulting in to disruption of harmony,
peace and preventing of urban
G. Dattatri (1989) identifies the following as the main objectives of urban renewal.
i. Replacement of old and run down buildings with new, modern, well organized functional
buildings.
ii. Development of old properties to the optimum extent to reflect real land values.
iii. Replacement of old uses by new uses as required by the community.
iv. Replacement of sub standard housing with good housing.
v. Increasing the property values which in turn would add to local revenues through increase of
property tax.
vi. Modernizing the city and providing for better traffic circulation, parking, open spaces, community
facilities and creating an improved and an attractive environment.
Wiedencroft (1984) lists ten axioms for any urban renewal as follows.
Creation of visual identity.
Creation of a sense of contained space.
Separation of traffic modes.
Provision of changes in elevation.
Integration of various functions Opportunity for participation.
Provision of attractive places for people to sit.
Accessibility of convenient shopping.

Material and textural improvement for aesthetic quality.
Beautification by provision of trees, plants and water bodies.
Muttalib (1992) approaches in a different way, by saying that the goals of urban renewal are based
on the desire to main health of the urban settlement. He mentions the age of buildings, functions of
the city, population density, traffic and transportation, financial adequacy of the civic body,
capacity of the users and maintenance of basic services as the main factors affecting soundness of
health of an urban area. According to A.S.Ansari, an urban renewal programme objective would be
to improve the physical living conditions of a deteriorating area through suitable changes of the
physical land use and planning, thereby giving a new look to an old declined area. The urban renewal
proposals usually include items of the following nature:
Road widening and realignment.
Clearance of slums, improvement and rehabilitation.
Provision of housing, house repairing, modification and housing by state-owned and private
agencies.
Improving the visual appearance of old area and help in the creation of better living
environment.
Preservation of historical monuments.
Provision of adequate social facilities and civic amenities.
Regulating the structure and management of urban developments, especially keeping the
roads free from encroachments.
Provision of adequate commercial and industrial areas.
Creation of infrastructure.
Provision of traffic regulations.
Thus Urban renewal provides means for replanning, thereby correcting some of the evils which have
resulted from the absence of sound planning practices. In short, the basic philosophy of urban
renewal is to rejuvenate the ailing cities, with only required destruction, less disruption of city life, and
least human suffering: while aiming at economic regeneration and strengthening of social fabric; at
the same time, preserving what is worth.
URBAN RENEWAL APPROACHES
The main aim of various urban renewal programmes is physical improvement and good environment;
and to reduce human sufferings. It is a continuous programme of housing and general neighborhood
improvement.
Urban renewal is taken to mean the process by which a large area of a town say the whole town
center slowly renews it self and there by gradually changes its character to fit in with the need of
contemporary society. It is an amalgam of all the process which act on a town, or a portion of it and
which are a continuously mounding and changing its character and appearance. As such continues
need for urban renewal is shown in fig.
urban renewal program can only be adequately formulated if the

essential character of the area is fully understood that can be
addressed through any or all of the following approaches:
The urban renewal process can be categorized as
1. Preservation
2. Conservation
3. Rehabilitation
4. Redevelopments
Though the term urban renewal is used interchangeably with redevelopment, rehabilitation and
conservation, they are distinct terms and are distinguished based on their genesis, planning, funding
and execution as well as clientele interest. .
Preservation
It is the practice of keeping intact the cultural and historical significance of any heritage building.
Before choosing any approaches for the preservation of architectural heritage buildings. The basic
criteria for the preservation are to be decided first. In relation with urban fabrics, the site for historic
preservation should have aesthetics, typicality, scarcity, historic importance or superlatives in nature.
Aesthetic represents a peculiar state of same definite period. The Mohe Jo Daro in India is unique
example of Aryan town planning and architecture. Buildings of its own kind are preserved. Particular
styles are also considered for preservation.
The filed of historic preservation varied and overlapping approaches. Which are
Restoration
Rehabilitation and Renovation
Conservation
Replication
Relocation
Restoration is concord with the process of restoring the historical building, which has been affected to
its original.
Replication is a reproduction process shifting of the building to be preserved is involved in relocation.
Preservation of domestic vernacular architecture is equally important as preservation of historical

monuments. These cultural heritages need appropriate treatment for preservation. But one has to
closely observe and identify such elements. One can find very good craftsmanship in timber or stone
vernacular architecture.
Conservation
It reflects in the conservation of the buildings or group of buildings and their surroundings.
In this sense conservation means improvement, protection or enhancement. Conservation helps
to prevent the spread of blight into other localities.
Conservation areas may comprise whole villages or even a small town or they may be part of a town
such as a street, a market square, building grouped around a church or temple, a great urban estate,
or simply a unified terrace or crescent of buildings
Conservation area is the wise use management of built up areas. Such a built up area may include any
historical monuments or buildings with architectural qualities, a street a market square, building
group some religion or institutional buildings
Larger towns and metropolitan areas require adequate public health; environment; law and order;
etc. In redevelopment areas; deterioration and blight exist to such an extent that the only possible
remedy is to clear the area and re - plan it for new physical development. In this way; the renewal is
taken to mean the process by which a large area of a town or the city slowly renews itself and
thereby gradually changes its character to fit in with the needs of the contemporary society. In its
wider and proper connotation, renewal represents the spectrum of a changing social phenomenon
spanning between redevelopment at one end and conservation at the other extreme. Whereas,
redevelopments target is rapid, abrupt and a revolutionary change, rehabilitation aims at incremental
change. From etymological point of view, conservation does appear as opposed to all forms of social
change. But, in actual practice, it is a process of recycling urban property and environment to a new
use, re use or proper use, with the objective to meet socio economical needs of a particular time
period without causing a significant alteration of the urban fabric.
Rehabilitation
improves the sub standard dwellings and neighbourhoods
The process of putting existing or buildings or existing areas of development back in to worth while
state after they have become out dated and unsatisfactory. In housing it is best illustrated by the work
being done in some large of life. It might be a proper maintenance and direction of buildings or open
spaces or the tidying up and use of derelict land or the closing of streets to make them pleasant areas
for children to play in old people to sit down.
Redevelopment
In the process which involves clearance of property. The building at new structure according to a
definite preconceived plan with a layout of the area, before redevelopment was under taken. It
implies a comprehensive plan, for redevelopment cannot seriously be at substantial scale and it is part
of an overall plan.
Redevelopment removes the problems from the blighted areas and structures; which are beyond
conservation or rehabilitation.
The need for redevelopment arise usually from a combination of circumstances :
Expansion of town
Traffic problems
Outworn buildings
New modes of living or shopping
Change in attitude towards environment
In demarking the redevelopment area as shown in fig the listing of building is required.
Redevelopment, the first manifestation of desire to renew the derelict precincts, had physical
planning and rebuilding as main components. This made the Bulldozer the symbolic tool of urban
change. Huge inputs were involved and disruption of civic life as well as constraints of fund inspired re
thinking. So, rehabilitation and then conservation entered the scenario. If public interest is taken as
the main thrust, redevelopment may fall short to fetch maximum benefits to all sections of the society
with minimum occurrence of human suffering. Experience of decades helped planners to realize that
economic and social considerations weigh heavily in favour of rehabilitation. The same
considerations, aided by increasing awareness about value of architectural and cultural heritage
endorsed importance to the redevelopment policy adopted by America in the post war period had led
to the demolition of old buildings and replacing them with modern structures. This virtually led to the
destruction of the old to give place to the new. There was no continuum, but only replacement as
per the new needs. The efforts were made to renew the Central Business Districts or downtowns
areas with the active participation of Governmental and voluntary agencies, local bodies and the
community. Most of the European countries have pursued various projects of urban conservation.
Preservation of historical buildings, re-use of old buildings, development of tourist spots, etc. were
attempted in these projects. Whereas, the Indian Experience of urban renewal is fairly recent, though
several cities, particularly metropolises, have been for a long time attempting to tackle the problems
of decline through ad hoc initiatives. The diverse and complex nature of Indian society, which Indian
cities reflect, does not provide a uniform picture. Problems are different, contexts differ, needs
change, and therefore the policies and programmes to deal with each city and town also differ.
Different interpretations were made in different countries and at different periods to suit the local
requirements. The exact nature of the urban renewal strategy to be adopted depends on the nature
of the problem and local situation.
Character of Area Impacts Different Phases Proposals (Solution)
Historic monuments and buildings Decay of historic Preservation Protection of historic monuments &
Monuments buildings
Tradition, culture and heritage of community,

Degradation of built Conservation Conservation of historic
living styles, environment area and residential area
Physical condition of houses.
Outdated structures, Poor living condition Rehabilitation Decorating buildings and open spaces.
congested streets, of people Pedestrian precincts and parking lots
blighted open spaces, River cleaning project
Polluted river. Traffic management programme.
Congested town centre, Decay of town centre Redevelopment New relief road-bypass
worn-out structures, city and slums New centralization
poor traffic circulation Widening of roads
basic amenities Recreation centre
Better basic amenities.

River front side, Environmental Enhancement ofRiver front development
fringe area of city degrade environment Remodeling of down town
blighted open spaces Public gardens.

URBAN RENEWAL METHODOLOGY

The methodology for urban renewal involves determination of the basic flow of various activities to
be carried out in logical stages, along with their inter related actions, intermediate appraisals,
needed modifications and the final line of action to achieve particular goals of the concerned project.
As the characteristics, intrinsic problem factors, compulsions and constraints vary from city to city and
from section to section of the same city, only a broad outline can be discussed to propagate the
methodology for urban renewal. It is also noteworthy that every city, its functions and people present
number of complexities. So, the task of determining a methodology poses the challenge of a wide
spectrum of decisions to be taken after resolution of various sets of searching questions. On a broader
perspective, it deals with following aspects:
i. Management and reconciliation of conflicting interests of various citizen groups.
ii. Tackling the relocation and rehabilitation problems.
iii. Mobilizing the public opinion in favor of priorities demanded by town planning needs.
iv. Preparing the psychological climate for give and take to ensure proper urban designs.
v. Mobilization of resources and ensuring self sufficiency of efforts.
vi. Implementation of programmers according to schedules to ensure the continuity of chain action
sequences.
It can be further understood through following stages:
A)Identification of Areas:
The first step to urban renewal process is the Identification of areas i.e. sections or districts of
the city on the basis of the components of the city functions. G. Mukherji (1992) addresses this
question very aptly when he says that it would be necessary to apply some indices to identify
areas to be designated as fit for renewal. These indices are given in the table below. He further
adds: A study of these features, assisted by intelligent general observation, would make the
identification of areas requiring attention, and would also help in generally forming an idea of the
nature of the renewal.
M.A.Muttalib (1992) gives another set of priority determinants as: There are three fold factors
that determine the scale of priorities for undertaking urban renewal. Human Suffering, Financial
Investment, Popular Sensitivity.
In view of the complexities in priority determination, the urban renewal programme will have
to be phased out, taking these factors in varied combinations. Efforts have to be made to
reduce human suffering and to avoid hurting peoples sensitivity.
Priorities of Urban Renewal Components
Sr. No. Urban Renewal Components Population Upto1,00,000

Population Range Population
above3,00,000
1,00,000 to 3,00,000
st nd st nd st nd
I Priority 2 Priority I Priority 2 Priority I Priority 2 Priority
01 Road widening and Road Re - alignment * * *
02 Avoiding dead ends reducing road lengths * * *
03 Extending road length to get smooth circulation * * *
04 Drinking water line * * *
05 Street lights * * *
06 Sewerage lines and drains * * *
07 Community hall and recreation areas * * *
08 Shops and markets * * *
09 Education and health units * * *
10 Reorganization of land use areas * * *
11 House repairing * * *
12 Slum improvement * * *
13 Housing (new) * * *
14 Traffic regulations and transportation locations* * *
15 Management of Urban development * * *
08 07 10 05 15
Note: More items come under the first priority as the size of the town increases. The larger
the size, the more serious is the problem.
B) Deciding the Strategy for Urban Renewal
All important projects, whether they are military operations, business enterprises or tackling
urban problems, depend for their success upon the strategy selected. Its determination is
based on the guiding factors and consideration of priorities as well as constraints. The exact
nature of the urban renewal strategy to be adopted depends on the nature of the problem and
local situation. Muttalib has outlined the strategy with extreme brevity when he says: The
urban renewal agency will have to adopt a strategy that may help to establish credibility with
the people on one hand, and depoliticize its programme on the other, so the money does not
get locked up. He also gives another clue for determining the strategy by saying, Depending
upon the stage of decay, the strategy of urban renewal has to be decided.
C) Base Data and Surveys
Collection of base data from secondary sources (from references and records, etc.) and form
primary sources (in form of various surveys) are prerequisite to formulation of a renewal
scheme. In a paper on Shahjahanabad, Shafi (1975) has approached this aspect nicely by
saying: Any programme for the redevelopment of Shahjahanabad would require a sound base
of data and information regarding the complex function and their inter linkages of the
activities and life styles of people residing and working within the walled city. Realistic
appreciation of the intricate inter relationships and the inter dependence of activities
operating within the walled city is essential before formulating an approach. Putting the word
inner city in place of Shahjahanabad or walled city, gives us the clue. Shafi emphasizes that
it is most necessary to conduct some essential studies and surveys. He enumerates them as:
A physical survey of the walled city (i.e. inner city).
A study of the pattern of living and work places.
Survey for identifying areas and sites for historical preservation.
The study of circulation pattern.
A study of social and cultural affinities within the walled city.
Wilfred Burns (1963) notes that a number of detailed surveys will have to be made before
delineation of the project area. He lists them in detail as shown below. To these, we can add
the data regarding the demographic profile and special problems.
Surveys for Urban Renewal Project:
Historical appraisal.
Land use survey.

Survey of age and condition of all properties yielding Age Map and the Condition Map.
Floor Space Index survey
As recommended by the Ministry of Housing and local Government)
Survey of net accommodation density
(As directed by the ministry of Housing and local Government)
Information about special features of area.
General surveys for basic information at the city level (to be obtained form records or to be
carried out if necessary) regarding
all services giving plans of sewers, gas supply lines water supply mains, electric cables, and
telephone cables.
Special usage plan may indicate the use of properties above ground level.
D) Form Selection:
Analysis of the data and subsequent discussions of policy planners about the financial and
social implications will help in deciding the form of urban renewal. This can also be termed as
selection of approach to renewal.
Kalyan Biswas (1989) suggests three alternatives to tackle inner city problems, namely,
- Wholesale demolition and redevelopment.
- A programme of selected urban renewal
- A programme of gradual improvement.
G. Dattatri (1989), suggesting approaches to urban renewal, notes the four directions for
urban renewal programme. He includes
- Rebuilding of old properties particularly in commercial areas.
- Demolition of large single family houses or under utilized properties and building high
utilization structures (apartments) in their place.
- Replacement of huts from slum areas, building storied blocks there and relocating slums
elsewhere.
- Rehabilitation of slum areas by replacing hutment with improved dwelling units, and providing
infrastructure as well as community facilities.
In short, selection of approach is to be made from
- Wholesale clearance and redevelopment.
- Partial redevelopment and rehabilitation.
- Rehabilitation.
- Conservation and / or recycling building and land.
- Comprehensive renewal including all the different forms.
- Gradual renewal.
E) Administrative Set Up
Various elements of a renewal programme serve as tools for community improvement. But,
these tools can be put to work through administrative set up or organization only. As is well
known, the ultimate effectiveness of tools depends upon efficient working of administrative
machinery.
Setting up proper organization, to meet the challenge of a large scale effective

implementation should be done in three steps as suggested by Gallion and Eisner (1986).
-Deciding on and establishing the organization needed.
-Finding the right people for jobs to be done.
-Giving clear cut authority and responsibility to the persons appointed.
In carrying out renewal projects a number of authorities, agencies and institutions are involved.
These are, mainly
-Most of the local government departments.
-State level authorities including ministry of housing and urban affairs, various Department, etc.
-Political leaders at the city level and area level.
-Non government organizations committed to social service (i.e. voluntary organizations).

-Consultancy institutions like educational institutes, research groups and consulting agencies.
-Organisations dealing in fund advance loan, leasing, aids, etc. So the administrative
organization will have to co ordinate the role of the various bodies listed hitherto.
There are two approaches for setting the administrative mechanism.

Single authority or Local planning authority.
Multiple authorities working in co operation to achieve the goals set for different aspects of
Urban Renewal.
Both systems have their own merits and demerits but establishing a single authority as nodal
agency is found to be more effective in many cases. In the United States of America, various
types of organizational set ups are tried. In the United Kingdom, generally the work is carried
out by a local agency, i.e. the Council, but planning, finance and law enactment and finance
management are done with central governments help.
In India, there are only a few examples of renewal efforts of scale. In initial years, generally the
city improvement trusts or organizations managed the renewal jobs in addition to the general
city development. In later years, a mixed approach is adopted. Special authorities are created
for some projects; while others are undertaken by the civic body with cooperation of various
governmental agencies already existing
F) Financing
Urban renewal programmers similar to other development schemes involve large scale
finance input. The mode of financing for such projects has varied from country to country and
from time to time in the same country.
In the United States of America, federal aid has been the main mode of financing residential
redevelopment. The principle of federal aid to help the city in carrying out this work is now
well established as observed by an author. Generally, federal government pays three fourths
and the city pays one fourth of the net project cost in cities under 50,000 populations and
belonging to economically depressed regions. For other cities, federal government pays two
third of the net project cost and the city pays one third. In addition to capital grants, the
federal government also advances loans to assist in the planning and execution as well as for
insurance and mortgage purchase on properties. Now, it also pays part of the cost of other
improvements like parks, neighbourhood centres and enforcement of codes supporting
renewal projects. Moreover, the citys Department of Housing and Community Development
grants loans to the Homesteader for rehabilitation purposes. Federal funds also assist private
firms and companies by subsidies, loans and other grants to promote urban renewal.
In Britain, initial legislation in 1949 provided grants to individuals for improvement of their
houses. Since then, a wide range of grants have been made available for repair and
improvement of properties. The legislation passed later (1969 and 1974) related to the
declaration of General Improvement Areas and Housing Action Areas, provided for large grants
to the councils.
In Asian countries, as the work in urban renewal is still in primary stages, no general provision
is made for the Central Governments aid to such projects. The state governments address the
question of financing in their own way on project basis as the financial positions of
metropolitan cities and large towns is not very sound. The financing is usually by project
specific grants in limited cases (like UDP and UCD) and by loans from various agencies.
G) Legislative Support
Any development work involves a number of costly inputs. This is truer in case of Urban
Development. Renewal work is a field abundant with socio economical and political
controversies and deals with mega inputs of land and money. Moreover questions of tenure,
ownership, freedom of rights to property, public welfare and community fabric are involved.
Hence, legislative support becomes very essential.
In the United Kingdom, the work of renewal started with concern for dilapidated houses and
unsanitary conditions. In the United States of America, the renewal programmers were
initiated targeting economically and physically derelict down towns. Then, over decades, the
direction and priorities of renewal changed along with the shift in the national policy. So, one
finds a series of Acts promulgated in the United Kingdom and the United States of America,
with respect to urban renewal.
As Kalyan Biswas (1989), in his effort to provide a brief overview of legislative support for
urban renewal in India, argues urban renewal is considered as an important aspect of urban
land policy in India. For metropolitan cities and towns with populations of three lacs and
above, the fifth five year plan introduced integrated the urban development programme as a
central sector scheme. The programme tended to concentrate on schemes of land acquisition
and area development.
The state governments have addressed the legislative work differently with each state
touching specific sub fields. The Government of Maharashtra seem to be leading in framing
legislation pertaining to renewal programmers and Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat follow
immediately in the ranking order by progress in this context.
Murthy (1989) has perceived the lacuna in our country and its solution in this way urban
renewal is a development necessity and needs national consensus. It should be a national
objective and it should form part of national urban policy. When this happens, the dearth of
legislative and financial support will be removed and programmers will be boosted up speedily.
Development Plan And Urban Renewal
The main approach in India towards resolution of problems in urbanized settlements has been
that of the Development plan. Depending upon the size of the urban settlement, appropriate
authority is endorsed the task of channeling the development in a planned manner through T.
P. Scheme Plan, Development Plan of a town, Municipal Corporations Plan, i. e. the City
Development Plan, Urban Area Development Authoritys Master plan, or on still higher scale,
Metropolitan Region Development Plan, Capital Region Development (State Level and National
Level) Plan, Mega City Project Plan, etc.

While Master plan addresses to the needs of urban development as per projected picture, the
Urban renewal Plan attacks the question of needs and problems as on ground realities. While
Master plan designs solutions for futuristic projection of scenario at a fixed time point,
renewal attends to what is needed here and now. Master Plan strives to achieve desirable
physical planning to meet the requirements of urban functions for the project area on large
scale, whereas renewal Plan has jurisdiction over, comparatively very less area. Master plans
strategy is objective specific for different aspects of urban functions for whole urbanable area.
Renewals strategy is problem specific and is confined to precisely delineated area in its
spatial spread.

In spite of these differences, both attend to the goal of providing desirable physical, functional
and environmental habitat leading to increase in quality of life and economic growth of the
city.

For city planning, the urban renewal programme has offered and still offers great potential for
accomplishing planning objectives. In its early days, urban renewal then called urban
redevelopment was designed to clear central city slums and build afresh according to
comprehensive plan. No other planning tool offered the possibility for such radical change.
Renewal therefore provides a way to loosen the Gordian knot that for years threatened to
strangle the city and exploits the opportunities to deal with a variety of problems. Urban
renewal has established its role as a complementary expedient of urban planning, thereby
aiding and easing the work of Master plan.

Therefore, it is very natural that urban renewal work investigates, analyses and plans for the
same basic functional elements as those addressed by the Development Plan. But, in addition,
it attends to the details of area specific problems. Moreover, Master Plan sets up high goals
involving mega inputs whereas a renewal Plan has modest goals and comparatively limited
extent of inputs are required. Because of mega scale of inputs, problematic issues on socio
economic front, absence of political will, dominance of red tape and extreme difficulty in the
availability and procurement of the basic resource land, many of the Development Plan
proposals may remain on paper or may be postponed indefinitely (even upto 40 years as in
case of Shahjahanabad). On the other hand, renewal programmers dictated by socio
economic urgencies and political expediency do get implemented at least partially and even a
bit belatedly. This is an established difference particularly for the Indian cities.

The need for renewal arises in every society and city. In India; the case for urban renewal is a
lot complex; compared to other countries; as most of the towns have obtained a haphazard
growth over the years. Urban planning and the pattern of services change from time to time.
Critical areas of decay like land; buildings; services and utilities need the most urgent attention.
Old and congested areas in any city are to be planned first. Urban renewal is a costly affair; but
is necessary although. Any renewal plan should avoid or reduce human inconvenience to its
maximum; during the renewal process. Moreover the renewal process should be planned
considering the entire city; rather than just the mere area that needs renewal. The decay of
urban property becomes visible with the obsolescence of buildings either due to misuse; non
use or disuse. The negligence towards the age of the buildings - public or private; financial
soundness of the city; population density; traffic and transportation; and proper maintenance
of basic services deteriorate the health of urban settlements. Depending on the stages of
decline and decay; the strategies of urban renewal have to be decided.
Urban Renewal is the total approach to the problem of the neighbourhood decay. It requires a
comprehensive programme with active involvement. Initiatives of a few people can make all the
difference to the revival of a town.
Urban renewal a compelling need in India/other countries
The National Common Minimum Program (NCMP) has committed itself to a comprehensive program
of urban renewal and massive expansion of social housing. In his address on June 24, 2004, the Prime
Minister emphasized the need to give special attention to policies promoting urban development and
renewal. And in his Independence Day address, said: Urban renewal will constitute one of the seven
pillars for growth and development.
Urban renewal originated in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s, which then faced widespread decay and
physical deterioration in cities and towns. Housing, business and industry, and utility and
transportation systems had become obsolete and city administrations had declining tax revenues.
Competition in the form of new housing and businesses had come up in the suburbs, just outside city
limits.
The US federal government then came up with the Urban Renewal Program (URP), to redevelop
blighted areas through land assembly, clearance and redevelopment. The program contributed
significantly to city renewal. These began to attract investments once again and compete with
developments in outlying areas.
The programs rationale was simple: there were huge sunk costs in infrastructure and facilities, which
could not be allowed to further depreciate.
By the mid-1960s, the URP, with billions of dollars of federal assistance, had covered many cities.
There was technical and financial assistance for planning urban renewal. Capital grants defrayed much
of the cost . In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the program lost its pre-eminence, partly because it
had achieved its basic objective and partly on account of other current problems.
Inner city development was neither a US invention, nor limited to US cities and towns. City renewal is
a historical reality, an age-old process of replacing buildings and facilities that had outlived their
usefulness. Troy was renewed nine times before the coming of Christ. In 1853, Baron Haussmann
changed the face of Paris from that of a medieval town. Nearer home are the examples of Singapore,
Shanghai and Beijing which have restructured and transformed themselves.
Indian cities are faced with decay and deterioration. Its not clear if the PM remembered the urban
renewal efforts in the US or decided suo moto ("on its own motion," is an Indian legal term),that
Indian cities need to be redeveloped. But urban renewal is a compelling need. Most of our cities have
large blighted areas, with severe stress on the existing, aged infrastructure and services. Many of
them have lost businesses, and are functioning at sub-optimal productivity. Notwithstanding the
valuable land on which such areas stand, they contribute little to city finances. Maintaining them in
their present state without any returns has become a liability, not to mention the other fallouts that
have resulted from the lack of inner city redevelopment.
The issue is: should we follow the US model of urban renewal, or recast it to suit our context, using
decades of experience of other countries? What kind of challenges will city renewal present to the
UPA government?
Urban renewal in our context should be viewed not merely as a physical redevelopment of decayed
buildings, or of slums, but a comprehensive city restructuring exercise, involving: reorganization of
space and activities; replacement and augmentation of utilities and road systems and regeneration of
economic base. One without the other is incomplete and may lead to imbalances and consequent
failure of the entire exercise.
Any exercise of this nature and scale will face challenges, and these have to be addressed upfront.
One is the challenge of institutional responsibility: who, which state or city-level institution, municipal
governments, city-level development authorities, state-level housing boards, etc., is most suited to
take on this national program? The record of these institutions does not inspire any confidence in
them. Indeed, if we evaluate their performance, it would be evident that none of them appears
competent to take on the challenge. Inefficiency and indifference has set in, together with corruption
and leakages.
In the US, several states and cities created dedicated authorities for identifying areas that needed to
be renewed and ensuring the entire exercise was completed. Should then the UPA government create
a separate, special purpose vehicle? Or work on a bigger scale, using this opportunity to restructure
the existing institutional network and making it compatible with 21st century requirements?
A second challenge is that of funds. Can or should it be financed out of the budgetary provisions, even
if urban renewal works are taken up in a limited number of cities? Should it be financed from a special
cess? Should it be debt-financed? These are questions that must be subjected to serious examination.
We must recognise that urban renewal is costly and has a long gestation period before its benefits
show. Budgetary provisions will unquestionably be needed to kickstart the process. But there is no
reason why the private sector should not be invited and encouraged to invest in this programme. It
stands to benefit as much as citizens and society. Indeed, it may be a unique opportunity to develop
and showcase public-private partnerships in financing redevelopment of inner-city areas.
Urban renewal is a process that necessarily involves citizens, businesses, and industry. It would
require a strong partnership and understanding between them and other stakeholders. Any attempt
to ignore or bypass them would ring the death-knell of this programme even before it can make a
beginning
NURM: Hope for cities
NATIONAL URBAN RENEWAL MISSION [5 December 2005]
Indian cities do not reflect the growth the nation's economy has achieved over the years. Despite
various attempts to make our cities shine, the progress has been slow. There has been no coordinated
effort to lift their standard. But all that might change now if the vision of the National Urban Renewal
Mission (NURM) becomes a reality. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has launched the most
ambitious of UPA governments' plans ever, and the expectations are that it would do to our cities
what his economic policies did to the country in his stint as the finance minister.
NURM is a mission for integrated development of urban infrastructure services with the assistance of
the Centre, state and local bodies. The Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission is being set up with
Rs 1 lakh crore outlays to cover 60 cities with a million-plus population in the next seven years. The
emphasis is to provide basic services to the urban poor - housing, water supply, sanitation, slum
improvement, community toilets and enhance overall urban infrastructure.
The mission has two simultaneous objectives - urban infrastructure governance and basic services to
the urban poor. It is laudable that improving the conditions of the urban poor is being taken care of
while launching the urban renewal mission. Often, the economic liberalization and globalization
policies of governments worldwide are blamed for the worsening condition of the poorer sections of
society. But the catch here is the rider on reforms in local bodies to be eligible for the Central grant.
Funds for developing water supply, sewerage system and so on become contingent on privatization of
these services and that is an experiment whose results have not been clearly established to be in
favour of the poor.
Though some parts of reforms agenda linked to NURM, like the compulsory computerization of land
records data, changing accounting norms are good, the experiment of letting local bodies be market
friendly and competent to attract direct funding could prove dangerous in the long run. One such
recent example is what happened to the Alabama state county which was lured into an exotic interest
rate swap promising lower costs that drained it continuously of its funds even as their merchant
bankers kept making money.
Some of the daring reforms the states would be forced to undertake are the repeal of the urban land
ceiling act, reform of the rent control act and lowering of stamp duties. This without any doubt would
lead to intense activity in the construction sector. NURM also takes care of all related aspects like
transportation, environment management, land use, but the fear is that the Centre would get to be
the big brother, directly dictating the functioning of municipal bodies and rob the constitutional
guarantee of self-governance.
Under NURM local bodies are supposed to draw up city development plans that are NURM-compliant
and once that is finalized the state, Centre and the identified cities would enter into a tripartite
agreement. When local bodies agree to the conditions laid out, do they take into account public
participation or do they have the approval of the ultimate stakeholders? If these grey areas are
cleared, NURM can definitely transform our cities and lift the living standard of its citizens.
The ministry of urban development will provide Rs 2,800 crore to states and Union Territories for the
national urban renewal mission. If states provide matching funds for urban expenditure, the total
outlay would go up to Rs 5,600 crore.[New Delhi , August 26]
Urban renewal in city
The present walled city has historical back ground since many centuries. It is abutted with river Tapi
on western side and surrounded by a ring road on south east side. The population of the city has
grown tremendously in last few decades. The settlement has grown and become denser with time.
The problem that the walled city is facing today can be analyzed under:
i. Preservation of historical monuments and buildings.
ii. Conservation of built environment
iii. Overcrowding
iv. Poor housing and building condition
v. Poor public transportation
vi. Low level of urban amenities
vii. Poor urban environment
viii. Traffic congestion

Renewal policy
The program is to be sorted in terms of preservation, conservation, redevelopment and rehabilitation.

To have co-ordinated efforts in this regards the following policies are framed.
i. To establish urban renewal authority to deal with various phases of renewal programs and
work as a liaison between civic body, civil authority and public.
ii. Identify the areas of preservation, conservation, redevelopment, and rehabilitation through
intense study.
iii. To establish renewal survey teams for each renewal techniques.
iv. To formulate a vigilant team consisting of experts on structural system, foundations etc. toi
note the conditions of the building.
v. To have an expert group of renewal planners and designers consisting of town planner, urban
designer and sociologist.
vi. A strong team consist of engineers and planners and administrators for implementation of
renwal plans.
All the above teams have to work under urban renewal Authrity with proper co-ordination.

Reader Renewal

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Reader Renewal

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

URBAN RENEWAL READER M. Arch.

II (City Design), Faculty of Architecture, SCET, Surat 1

URBAN RENEWAL THEORY READER

FOR M.ARCH IISEM III

M.ARCH (CITY DESIGN)

Urban Renewal Theory

Urban Renewal -term

URBAN RENEWAL- TERM

DEFINITION : URBAN RNEWAL

Rehabilitation of impoverished urban neighborhoods by large-scale renovation or reconstruction

BUSIBNESS DICTIONARY: URBAN RENEWAL

REAL ESTATE DICTIONARY: URBAN RENEWAL

Rehabilitation of deteriorated or distressed urban areas, as by slum clearance and redevelopment

Urban renewal is a process of re-planning and comprehensive redevelopment of land, structure,

However, be it rehabilitation, redevelopment, conservation or a combination of one or two or all

NEED FOR URBAN RENEWAL

Urban renewal an understanding

Why it is important to rejuvenate the inner cities?

HISTORY OF URBAN RENEWAL

Redlining and Segregation

lower-income whites but not to middle- or upper-income blacks.[7]

Postwar Problems and Suburban Growth

Housing Act of 1949

Reactions against Urban Renewal

From "Urban Renewal" To "Community Development

Long Term Implications

Changes at the center

To add the necessary civic aesthetics of the town.

Physical aspect Social aspect

Dilapidated buildings Poor civic services

Urban renewal generally includes

Replacing and improving out molded facilities

Imposing new street patterns

Introducing efficient and mass transit

Convenient shopping facilities and recreation

Implementation adequate building; sanitary and housing codes

Townscape in urban renewal

URBAN RENEWAL PROCESS:

Urban renewal as an answer to urban crises is a universal phenomenon with increasing

Important aspects of urban renewal

Objectives Of Urban Renewal

iii. Replacement of old uses by new uses as required by the community.

iv. Replacement of sub standard housing with good housing.

Creation of visual identity.

Creation of a sense of contained space.

Separation of traffic modes.

Provision of changes in elevation.

Integration of various functions Opportunity for participation.

Provision of attractive places for people to sit.

Accessibility of convenient shopping.

Material and textural improvement for aesthetic quality.

Beautification by provision of trees, plants and water bodies.

Road widening and realignment.

Clearance of slums, improvement and rehabilitation.

Preservation of historical monuments.

Provision of adequate social facilities and civic amenities.

Provision of adequate commercial and industrial areas.

Provision of traffic regulations.

URBAN RENEWAL APPROACHES

urban renewal program can only be adequately formulated if the

The urban renewal process can be categorized as

Replication is a reproduction process shifting of the building to be preserved is involved in relocation.

Preservation of domestic vernacular architecture is equally important as preservation of historical

to prevent the spread of blight into other localities.