Clearance of Slums –This is one of the benefits, urban renewal helps in eliminating Slums and creates new interest throughout the neighbourhood. With cities being renewed, it has been noted that slum areas have visibly reduced thus making the place look rich.
The last step in the process of urban renewal process is a final implementation of the renewal program and its evaluation.
Urban renewal is a comprehensive scheme to redress complex urban problems including deficient, obsolete or deficient housing, inadequate transportation, sanitation and other facilities, traffic congestion, haphazard land use, and the sociological correlates of urban decay, such as crime. Earlier the process focused on housing reform and sanitary and public-health measures followed by growing emphasis on slum clearance and relocation of population and industry from congested areas to less-crowded sites. However, now the process is being relooked upon. Each country approaches urban renewal in a very different manner as per its political and administrative systems.
This has led to a tremendous rise in the rate at which urban sprawl is happening across the country. Due to the constant expansion of urban areas into agricultural hinterland, urban areas are becoming highly unsustainable as large quantities of urban land and buildings are abandoned and left dilapidated and the cities are expanding more outwards. Many communities go to extreme lengths to revitalize their cities such as destroying abandoned homes and developing high-speed rails along the center of the neighborhood, however one thing clear that future redevelopment within a city is possible only through urban renewal. In addition, it is clear that urban renewal is an important part of any city’s urban planning.
It is comparatively inexpensive as compared to Redevelopment. Reusing spaces and buildings can be seen as an effective way of urban renewal as it reduces environmental impacts and helps in keeping neighbourhoods occupied and vital. It is considered as an attractive alternative to the construction of new buildings or using non-sealed soil which requires lot more energy and are unsustainable in nature. Various instruments and tools exist for the reuse of spaces and buildings such as spatial strategies and structural, procedural, collaborative and financial tools.
The increment in the population of people living in the unhealthy and hazardous conditions. The increment in the number of the old buildings is causing people living in them, a risk of life due to the collapse of such buildings. Such situations are also an indication of the increase in the gap in infrastructure between the populace and the environment.
The reuse of land helps in revitalization of communities and renews economic activity by bolstering community spirit , creating jobs and boosting local tax revenues. By putting these properties to new and productive use, land reuse and recycling encourages growth of businesses and services and helps in relieving concentrations of poverty, creating jobs, and stimulating additional investments. Also, this is a sustainable idea as it leads to smart and responsible growth.
Experts present at the first International Seminar on Urban Renewal, held in Den Haag in August 1958, agreed that the main purpose of urban renewal is to deliberately change the urban envi ronment and to inject new vitality through planned adjustment of existing areas to respond to present and future requirements for urban living and working (Miller, 1959). For them, the fundamental objec tive of urban renewal is the application of several principles resulting in the revitalization of any or all portions of the urban structure which are not fulfilling the functions for which they were designed (Miller, 1959). Urban renewal generally applies to inner-city areas, centrally located in historical dis tricts including non-residential as well as residential land uses (Grebler, 1964).
The preservation of the city's identity, community, local culture and natural and built environments, must be given special attention in the process of renewal.
The renewal of Paris by Haussmann is thought to be the first large scale urban renewal project implemented. However, the United States was among the first countries to develop specific national programs of urban renewal (Grebler, 1964). The problem of deteriorating urban neighborhoods has been recognized in the United States since the mid-nineteenth century and over the years, major efforts have been made to counteract decay and to rejuvenate cities throughout the country (Nelson, 1988).
The problem of deteriorating urban neighborhoods has been recognized in the United States since the mid-nineteenth century and over the years, major efforts have been made to counteract decay and to rejuvenate cities throughout the country (Nelson, 1988 ). Urban Renewal in the United States.
Rehabilitation recognizes that the limited availability of funds for new construction and the serious housing shortage make the option of destroying already-existing housing appear both unaffordable and imprudent. It recognizes the value of old neighborhoods and , by preserving what is unique, ancient, and specifically local, it can also contribute to the development of the tourism indus try and stimulate the economy. From the standpoint of time and cost, rehabilitation is a sensible solution to the problem of neighborhood regeneration 4 (Mirbod, 1984).
It allows for flexible project implementation which can preserve the traditional urban environment and its human scale while achieving respectable densities . It respects the social order of the community by rehousing the majority of the original residents on the site and invites mass participation. Integration results in the creation of rich environments through the integration of new buildings within the exist ing neighborhoods and allows for the development of a new form of contemporary architecture with local characteristics, enriching the appearance of the old city while maintaining its identity. However, for many developers and local authorities, integration remains a time-consuming process, less profitable than redevelopment with mass housing.
In the majority of western countries, redevelopment has been discarded as a way to rejuvenate old city centers. However, in many developing countries, redevelopment through slum clearance and reconstruction is still regarded as the only viable way to improve housing conditions and to modernize inner-city areas.
• The emphasis is on those parts which have fallen below current standards of public acceptability. These are commonly to be found in: o The residential parts of the inner city o The central business district itself. • Indicators for residential parts of inner cities are: – inadequate housing, – environmental degradation, – presence of non-conforming uses. • Indicators for central business district are: – traffic problems, – congestion, – dilapidated buildings.
5. Urban renewal is required for • Dilapidating, ageing parts of the city, not providing the city its full potential and becoming a health hazard • In built form it consists of old area of the city, congested area around transit points, illegal settlements needing redevelopment • In terms of infrastructure - measures for efficient and smooth movement of traffic, improvement of transportation network, provision /improvement of utilities. WHERE URBAN RENEWAL IS REQUIRED?
UNDERSTANDING URBAN RENEWAL The term Urban renewal means rebirth or regeneration of a city or a part of it which has been plagued by the ills of urbanization • The planning concept originated in England and America in 1930’s • Decayed parts of the city were demolished and rebuilt.
The program's goals included eliminating substandard housing, constructing adequate housing, reducing de facto segregation, and revitalizing city economies. Participating local governments received federal subsidies totaling about $13 billion and were required to supply matching funds.
More than two thousand construction projects on one thousand square miles of urban land were undertaken between 1949 and 1973, when the urban renewal program officially ended. Roughly six hundred thousand housing units were demolished, compelling some two million inhabitants to move.
Congress created the U.S. Housing Authority in 1937 to clear slums and provide public housing for low-income residents . Employment programs funded the construction of public buildings such as schools, hospitals, and urban parks. Economic prosperity characterized the United States after World War II (1939 – 1945).
Slab-like high-rise complexes, poorly planned and constructed, housed as many as twelve thousand people (in the notorious Pruitt-Igoe project in St. Louis, Missouri). Known by residents as "the projects," these buildings were increasingly plagued by vandalism, drug use, rape, assault, robbery, and murder.
In New York City, more than one hundred thousand African Americans were uprooted, destroying the social and economic fabric of many neighborhoods. The original legislation had stipulated that for each new unit of housing built, at least one old unit of housing was to be torn down.
Rampant housing discrimination created racially segregated neighborhoods. Lacking an adequate tax base and political clout, these areas and populations lagged in the quality of schools, roads, police protection, and other city services. Nevertheless, even segregated neighborhoods of this period generally included solidly middle-class residents and thriving businesses.
Several theories about the overall failure of city planning are currently in vogue. An argument for greater involvement of local residents—as a counterweight to the dictates of distant professional planners—is often coupled with the need to empower poor and minority groups to lobby for changes that will benefit them. Another view emphasizes the significance of global forces, including foreign investment in U.S. cities and overseas labor costs, as well as other factors (such as interest rate fluctuations and energy prices), over which city planners, investors, and local politicians have no control.