Government
The Wastelands of Urban Renewal
Through large-scale demolition and clearance, American urban renewal waged a war on perceived waste—and created a new tide of it.
This post is part of a CityLab series on wastelands, and what we squander, discard, and fritter away.
“Urban renewal” is a phrase with loaded connotations in American politics and history. The term largely refers to three policies enacted in the postwar era: the Housing Act of 1949, the Housing Act of 1954, and the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Up until 1974, the federal government funded a nationwide policy of demolition and large-scale clearance.