Comparative study of urban redevelopment in the United States and Great Britain.

This thesis is a study of the urban redevelopment policies and programs of the United States and Great Britain. It attempts to survey the political and legal aspects of urban redevelopment as well as the procedures of implementation and administration. The United Kingdom's urban redevelopment policies are viewed as they emerge from Parliamentary debate. The recorded statements of the Parliamentary leaders who initiated and promoted Britain's urban redevelopment programs are given primary emphasis. In addition, the United Kingdom's New Towns program is examined as a primary component in the nation's redevelopment policy. The New Towns program is analyzed from its theoretical origins to its practical execution. The construction of comprehensively planned New Towns by autonomous government corporations represents a major British urban redevelopment achievement. The British program of expanded towns is viewed as an alternative redevelopment policy. This program ties urban renewal to older town centers that can accommodate new growth. The housing problems of Great Britain for a considerable period of time have constituted major urban renewal challenges. This thesis undertakes to survey the United Kingdom's efforts to eliminate its housing shortage by remedial programs. The urban renewal scenario of the United States has been quite different from that of Great Britain. The forces of urban change and attrition have also expressed themselves in different forms in the United States. The urban renewal program of the United States has been primarily directed at urban blight in the central core of American cities. At the initiation of the United States' urban redevelopment program in 1949, housing and residential goals were given primary emphasis. However, in subsequent years the revival of central business districts acquired primary status in this nation's renewal priorities. The United States' urban renewal programs and policies are examined from legislative, executive, and judicial perspectives. The thesis also attempts to trace the implementation procedures of urban renewal in the American federal system of government. The roles of state and municipal government in urban renewal are given considerable attention. The relocation of families displaced by United States urban renewal projects has been a major redevelopment dilemma. Charges of racial discrimination in relocation and housing policies have cast a serious specter of doubt on some municipal urban renewal projects. Structural differences in government between the United States and Great Britain have produced individual approaches and methods for achieving urban redevelopment. The British government, being a unitary political system, has been inclined to direct urban redevelopment from the central bureaucracy. In the United States, with its federal division of power, local government has much more authority and control over redevelopment policy than local government in the United Kingdom. Economic and ideological differences between the United States and Great Britain also produced distinctive renewal programs. Socialism and the welfare state concept have been a powerful impetus for urban redevelopment in Britain. Urban renewal programs in the United States have been adapted to fit into the prevailing capitalist economic structure of this nation. This thesis endeavors to analyze critically the urban redevelopment programs and policies of both the United Kingdom and the United States. It attempts to determine how successful these nations have been in achieving their stated redevelopment aims and objectives.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1970

Author dc:creator

• Enochs, David Homer, 1942-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Edwards, Charles S., 1928-

• Urban renewal -- United States.
• Urban renewal -- Great Britain.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/13524

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/13524