Demolition in American city planning

Demolition is deeply embedded in urban systems. It has been explained as both the inevitable churn of the built environment and as a grand gesture of human control of the urban organism. This thesis examines the three main arguments for demolition: social reform, modernization, and non-conformity. Through the lens of each, it looks at the history of American demolition and points out the flawed reasoning that justifies demolition today. It focuses especially on the history of Boston, Massachusetts. It proposes that demolition does not serve a legitimate function in city planning, and offers a new rubric for decision-making around demolition.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Josephson, Anna M. (Anna McKinney)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sam Bass Warner.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses 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. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59749

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/59749