Urban renewal

Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in British English) is a movement in urban planning that reached its peak in the United States from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. It has had a massive impact on the urban landscape and continues to the present day. It has also played an important role in cities worldwide, such as Saint John, New Brunswick, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, and Bilbao, Spain.

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 and were replaced by highways and new industrial zones. 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.

Related Topics:
Underwriting - Caucasian

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