Urban renewal is the process of redeveloping areas of moderate to high density urban land use. It often involves relocating businesses and demolishing structures to redevelop land. While proponents see it as improving economic and living conditions, critics argue it can displace existing communities. Early examples include Haussmann's redesign of Paris in the 1850s and the redevelopment of Rome from 1925-1950. Urban renewal aims to revitalize city centers and gentrify neighborhoods but has also demolished some neighborhoods in the past.

1. Gentrification
Presented by: Kamiar Yazdani
Gentrify(v): renovate so as to make it conform to middle-class aspirations;
"gentrify a row of old houses"; "gentrify the old center of town"

2. Definitions:
• The process by which an area of a city where poor people live becomes an
area where middle-class people live, as they buy the houses and repair
them.
Before After
 The buying and renovation of houses and
near Mount Morris Park in Harlem, before and after renovation
stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by
Under the program, buyers received subsidies
and low-cost homes on free city land, with the upper- or middle-income families or
stipulation that they will live in the houses for at
least six years, paying penalties if they break
individuals, thus improving property values but
their agreements. often displacing low-income families and small
businesses.
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/142/gentrification.html

3. Definitions:
 The process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of
middleclass or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces
earlier usually poorer residents.
 Two discrete, sociologic theories explain and justify gentrification as:
I. an economic process (production-side theory)
II. a social process (consumption-side theory)
 Gentrification was first defined as ―a process of class succession and
displacement of classes in areas broadly characterized by
working-class and unskilled households‖ by Ruth Glass in
1964 (Glass, 1964).
http://real-estate.laws.com/gentrification/causes-of-gentrification

4. Definitions:
 Then, it was generally defined as the rehabilitation of working-class and
derelict housing and the consequent transformation of an area into a
middle-class neighborhood (Smith & Williams, 1986).
 With social transformation and the organization of industrial structures,
starting in the 1970s in western countries, and the deep on-going economic
globalization, its meaning has been progressively broadened (Butler, 1997),
 which now mainly includes that:
• a. the high-income groups outside urban neighborhoods replace the low-
income ones inside and the latter gradually move out;
• b. the material conditions of urban neighborhoods are correspondingly
improved and the environment of urban downtown and public facilities are
notably advanced;
• c. the characteristics of urban neighborhoods (ethnic composition, faith,
income level, cultural background, way of working and recreation, etc.)
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/gentry.htm

5. Definitions:
 The question as to whether gentrification is desirable or destructive is part
of a political discussion. Answers to the question are sensitive on ideological
assumptions and depend on the viewpoint of the researcher.
 Some authors focus on the exclusion process and the emerging social costs
if long-established but underprivileged people are driven out of their
neighborhoods (Blasius and Dangschadt, 1990; Friedrichs, 1996).
 Others, mostly economists argue that the benefits from gentrification .trickle
down. to the poor (e.g. Eekhoff, 1987).
 Policy-makers develop strategies to regulate gentrification, to avoid decline
or to revitalize deprived city neighborhoods and initialize gentrification.
Recent research investigated the influence of the welfare state on urban
segregation (e.g. Mustered and Ostendorf 1998).
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gentrification

6. Definitions:
1. gentrification requires the displacement of lower income residents from their
neighborhoods. We are most concerned about involuntary displacement,
that is, the displacement of those ―original‖ residents who would prefer to
stay in their neighborhood, but because of non-just-cause evictions, rapidly
rising rents or increases in their property tax bills, cannot afford to do so. In
addition to families that are directly displaced from changes in their
neighborhood, researchers identify a form of exclusionary displacement,
where changes in the neighborhood prevent future lower income
households from moving in.
2. gentrification has a physical as well as socioeconomic component that
results in the upgrading of housing stock in the neighborhood.
3. gentrification results in the changed character of the neighborhood. This is a
much more subjective feature of the definition, but one that is critical.

8. Definitions:
What can be done about the disadvantages brought on by gentrification?
 Provide tax relief for long term home owners
 Promote mixed income and non-profit development for housing and
community space
 Support neighborhood organizations rooted in local history and ethnic
traditions
 Establish Community Land Trusts: A (CLT) is a non-profit organization that
seeks to own and preserve that benefits the whole community as opposed
to private landowners. This land can be used to develop public space for
parks or used to provide low-income housing in a neighborhood

9. Why do people resent gentrification?
Ethnic means connected with different racial or cultural groups of people.

10. Definitions and Results :
• The restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-
class or affluent people, often resulting in displacement of lower-income
people.
• Brit a process by which middle-class people take up residence in a
traditionally working-class area of a city, changing the character of the area.
(Sociology)
• The restoration of run-down urban areas by the middle class. (resulting in
the displacement of low-income residents)
Displacement of low-income residents?!!!
http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/62675/

11. Gentrification and Justification
• We want to consume the traditional values of our neighborhoods precisely
at the moment that we have become the sorts of selves who can't exist in
traditional settings.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/gentrification-and-amber-romanticizing

12. Definitions and Results :
• The process of wealthier residents moving to an area, and the changes that
occur due to the influx of wealth. As wealthier inhabitants move into an area
that is already populated with lower-income residents, the neighborhood
begins to change as well. Often this will spark an urban renewal process,
which cleans up the town, but often leads to an increase in rent, taxes, and
other items. Sometimes this change means that the previous residents can
no longer afford to live in that neighborhood, which is why gentrification can
sometimes be used in a negative context. However, many good changes
also historically accompany gentrification, such as decreased crime rates
and increased economic activity.
no longer afford to live in that neighborhood
an increase in rent, taxes, and other items

14. The Best Examples of Gentrification
New York
New York City strives to maintain a prominent reputation. In order to
maintain it, gentrification is necessary. In 2003 alone, 225,000 renters
were forced to move out of their neighborhood for financial reasons. Of
those 225,000 renters, 96,000 of them were directly displaced either by
their landlord or a government official. New York City is an interesting
example because its neighborhoods have been experiencing
gentrification for over 30 years. Those neighborhoods are now some of
the nicest in the city but people are no longer thinking about those that
were displaced decades ago.
Many of the original residents of areas that have become gentrified in
New York City have managed to stay. Those residents often seem
appreciative of the new environment. They now can raise their family in
a nicer, safer neighborhood without having to move. While they may
struggle to stay in the area for financial reasons, they feel in the long
run their children will benefit from growing up in the gentrified area and
will also be able to one day afford living in the gentrified neighborhood.

15. Here's the advance of gentrification in Manhattan, as illustrated by the distribution of Starbucks branches.
Harlem, Tribeca, Far Chelsea and the Lower East Side are the only uncontaminated neighborhoods.
Upper West Side, Landmark District
Charlton-King-VanDam, Manhattan Midtown Manhattan Greenwich Village, Manhattan
http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/gentrification-peaking-in-manhattan-valley
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5569466

16. Greenwich Village, Manhattan
http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/topic/67288/
http://www.brownstoneauthority.com/manhattanprojects2010.html

17. Greenwich Village, Manhattan

18. The Best Examples of Gentrification
Detroit
Signs have been described as being "everywhere" in Detroit. These are
signs informing others that houses will be for sale, and new
improvements will be made to the neighborhood. Detroit has come
on hard economic times, and its residents are being forced out of
their communities. Residents in Detroit doubt that wealthier families
will be looking to buy property in Detroit. Despite the signs, the run
down neighborhood are still not attractive to potential buyers. The
city seems to be resisting gentrification more than other cities. The
combination of resistance of the residents from moving out and the
lack of investors has substantially slowed down the gentrification
process.

22. The Best Examples of Gentrification
Philadelphia
North Philadelphia has undergone gentrification in recent years. The
blighted blocks, one after another, make the gentrified blocks stand
out and seem out of place. Locals describe the blocks as "fake
nice." It is known as "fake nice" because the appearance is nice, but
the people in the homes as well as the next block over are still just
as deprived and suffering economically as their neighbors. Families
who are placed in the fixed-up home still have trouble making
money and keeping their kids in school. In the neighborhood
surrounding Temple University, for instance, there has been
community development resistance. The residents are trying to keep
the University from buying their land and creating homes for more
students. The neighborhood's residents do not get along well with
the students, and gentrification is met with resistance.

25. D.C.’s Historic Districts and the
Architecture of Gentrification

26.  The District of Columbia has some of the strongest historic preservation laws of any
major U.S. city with thousands of structures preserved either as individual sites or
part of historic districts. In the city’s 27 historic districts, construction of any type must
be approved by the city’s Historic Preservation Office. Major projects or new
construction in Historic Districts must receive approval by the city’s Historic
Preservation Review Board which includes citizens, architects, historians, and even an
archeologist. According to their annual report for FY 2004 (the most recent available),
the office reviewed 4,313 permit applications and issued 224 stop work orders for
work commenced without proper approval in that year.
 Since I could find no good map illustrating the city’s historic districts, I created one
using city GIS data. Shown above, the map shows the districts cover large swaths of
the city including Georgetown, portions of downtown, Cleveland Park, Mount
Pleasant, DuPont Circle, Legal Circle, U Street, and Capitol Hill. I also created this map
of the Mendacity neighborhoods near where I live:

29.  The city’s design guidelines for new construction in Historic Districts urges builders
to design structures “compatible with the existing environment without exactly
duplicating existing buildings,” meaning many new structures within historic
districts generally re-use existing historic facades or carefully blend in with their
surroundings. This project, located off 14th Street in the Greater U Street Historic
District provides a good example of the impact of city law. Although clearly
contemporary, the new structure to the right is clad in decorative brick and
contains other elements linking it with the surrounding structures, and developers
have preserved the facade of one row home:

31.  Just a few blocks away, just north of the Historic District boundary, many
new luxury condo projects show quite different design. Thanks to high
density zoning, the presence of empty lots, and a strong incentive for
developers to convey excitement to condo buyers, a series of striking
contemporary residential structures are rising just north of the U Street
corridor. Here on Belmont Street just steps from Meridian Hill Park, the
clean lines of City Overlook nestles between 19th century brick row homes:

33.  Farther east, just off U Street near the 9:30 Club, the Floridian and
Rhapsody (pictured here) rise amid modest brick row homes:

35.  This project on V Street also shows the contrasting scale of some of the
new projects in the neighborhood:

37.  The neighborhood also includes a number of smaller projects in
contemporary stylea. The W Street Residence, at the corner of W and 11th
Streets, caught my eye:

39.  Although such architecturally incongruous construction may offend preservation
purists, it injects into the urban fabric an architectural variety and vitality I find
lacking from many of the closely policed Historic Districts. What seems most
important to me is not the specific architectural styles but how these new
structures relate to the sidewalk, streets, and buildings around them.

40. Urban Regeneration
Urban Renewal
Presented by: Kamiar Yazdani

41. Definition:
 Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to
high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures.
Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations
and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of
reconstruction. The process has had a major impact on many urban
landscapes, and has played an important role in the history and
demographics of cities around the world.
Melbourne Docklands urban renewal project, a transformation of a large disused
docks into a new residential and commercial precinct for 25,000 people.

45.  Urban renewal may involve:
a. the relocation of businesses.
b. the demolition of structures.
c. the relocation of people.
d. the use of eminent domain- (government purchase of property for public
use) as a legal instrument to take private property for city-initiated
development projects.
e. In some cases, renewal may result in urban sprawl and less congestion
when areas of cities receive freeways and expressways.

46.  Urban renewal has been seen by proponents as an economic engine and
a reform mechanism, and by critics as a mechanism for control. It may
enhance existing communities, and in some cases result in the demolition
of neighborhoods.
 Many cities link the revitalization of the central business district and
gentrification of residential neighborhoods to earlier urban renewal
programs. Over time, urban renewal evolved into a policy based less on
destruction and more on renovation and investment, and today is an
integral part of many local governments, often combined with small and
big business incentives.

47.  History
a. The concept of urban renewal can be traced back to the earliest days of urban
development, and often stems from an expansive style of governance. Its
potential value as a process was noted by those who witnessed the
overcrowded conditions of 19th century London, New York, Paris and other
major cities of the developed world affected by the industrial revolution.
b. From this, a reform agenda emerged, using a progressive doctrine of that
renewal would reform its residents. Such reform could be argued on moral,
economic, and many other grounds.
c. Another style of reform – for reasons of aesthetics and efficiency – could be
said to have begun in 1853, with the recruitment of Baron Haussmann by Louis
Napoleon for the redevelopment of Paris.
d. Both strands of slum abolition valued the destruction of degraded housing and
other structures above the welfare of slum-dwellers who, then as now, are often
dispersed and might well discover themselves to be less well-off than before a
slum clearance program.

48.  THE FIRST WAVE OF REGENERATION: One of the first cities to enforce
an urban renewal policy was Paris. Between 1852 and 1870, under the
direction of Eugène Haussmann, the Boulevards were cut throughout the
city. Along with the Boulevards came water pipes, sewers and public
transports, and police was finally able to patrol the city.
Paris, quartier des Halles. Boulevards cut the pre-existing urban fabric

49. Paris: a typical pre-Haussmann street. Note the building height/road width ratio

50. Paris: a typical pre-Haussmann street. Note the building height/road width ratio

51.  In Rome, a similar policy was followed in Rome between 1925 and 1950.
New roads were opened through the center, causing the displacement of a
significative part of Rome’s population in small boroughs (borgate) in the
outskirts of the city. These interventions changed the city so
dramatically that they were named Sventramenti (slaughters).
Rome, Trastevere. The ancient urban fabric

52. Rome. A half-demolished district in the city center, near Via della Conciliazione

53. Rome, via della Conciliazione. completed in 1950, it’s Rome’s last boulevard to be cut through the city center

54. Rome, Il Trullo: a typical Borgata

55.  THE SECOND WAVE OF REGENERATION: A second wave of urban
renewal came after WWII. Living standards became higher, and projects
became more radical. Their manifesto was Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin
(1925), which proposed the destruction of most of Paris city center (seen
just as a big slum) and its replacement with an entirely new urban fabric,
made of high-rises and gardens. And most of times, the people who were
displaced in these new wave of urban renewal projects were the same who
were affected by the first wave.

56. Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin

57. Drancy, one of the first examples of the Plan Voisin, portrayed as ―the first parisian Skyscraper‖

58. Roma, the borgata of Tiburtino III, in 1935

59. The same place in 2008. Few building survived to a major renewal
made in the 80′s. All new buildings follow Le Corbusier standards.

60.  Reactions
a. In 1961, Jane Jacobs published The Death and Life of Great American
Cities, one of the first—and strongest—critiques of contemporary large-
scale urban renewal. However, it would still be a few years before organized
movements began to oppose urban renewal.
b. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act removed racial deed restrictions on housing.
This began desegregation of residential neighborhoods, but redlining
continued to mean that real estate agents continued to steer ethnic
minorities to certain areas. The riots that swept cities across the country
from 1965 to 1967 damaged or destroyed additional areas of major cities—
most drastically in Detroit during the 12th Street Riot.
c. By the 1970s many major cities developed opposition to the sweeping
urban-renewal plans for their cities. In Boston, community activists halted
construction of the proposed Southwest Expressway—but only after a
three-mile long stretch of land had been cleared. In San Francisco, Joseph
Alioto was the first mayor to publicly repudiate the policy of urban renewal,
and with the backing of community groups, forced the state to end
construction of highways through the heart of the city. Atlanta lost over
60,000 people between 1960 and 1970 because of urban renewal and
expressway construction, but a downtown building boom turned the city into
the showcase of the New South in the 1970s and 1980s. In the early 1970s
in Toronto Jacobs was heavily involved in a group which halted the
construction of the Spadina Expressway and altered transport policy in that
city.

61. Temple Bar, Dublin

62.  During the 1990s the concept of culture-led regeneration gained ground.
Examples most often cited as successes include Temple Bar in Dublin
where tourism was attracted to a bohemian ―cultural quarter‖.

63. Yerevan, Armenia
URBAN REGENERATION OF NORTHERN AVENUE IN
YEREVAN

67. New layer of radical regenerated urban spaces in Northern avenue
(in progress)

68. Empty housing units and commercial spaces after a decade

69. Varied layers of urban regeneration in Avenue’s body

70. 1960s and 1970s housing in historic urban pattern

71. 1960s and 1970s housing in historic urban pattern

72. Gentrified residential building in Yerevan

73. Combination of gentrified and regenerated urban spaces