UNIT V

Renewal and redevelopment: Objectives,

programs of urban renewal, public involvement
and participation. Townscape policies and role in
urban design

Prepared by:
Asha Shanbhag
Asst. Prof. at SPA, Mysore
Definition:

 Urban renewal refers to a set of plans and activities to upgrade neighborhoods and

suburbs that are in state of distress or decay. Urban renewal programs address the

physical aspects of urban decay.

• Urban problems such as deteriorating housing, poor physical infrastructure (including

water and sanitation services), and poor community services such as sports and

recreational amenities are addressed through such programs.

*Urban decay: the decay and deterioration of an urban area due to neglect or age -Collins dictionary.
Source:
1. Encyclopedia Of Quality Of Life And Well-being Research/2014/ Page 294
2. Urban renewal as a housing provision policy and mathematical modeling for urban renewal projects in turkey/concepts
Definition:
 With the decision and authority of a governing municipality, re-arranging land use,
function and ownership features of a socially, economically or structurally decayed
part of a certain city .
• With public (municipal) decision and authority, modifying the ownership, land
use plan and functions of economically and structurally disabled part of a city,
such as slum zones or brown fields, for the purpose of obtaining a desired, well
organized neighborhood.
• Also called as Urban regeneration and urban redevelopment
• Urban renewal is often presented as a natural process through which the urban
environment, viewed as a living entity, undergoes transformation. "As the years
pass, transformations take place, allowing the city to constantly rejuvenate itself in a
natural and organic way"
Source:
1. Urban renewal as a housing provision policy and mathematical modeling for urban renewal projects in turkey/concepts
2. McGill/Minimum Cost Housing Group/Neighbourhood regeneration in Beijing/Chapter 1
Objectives
 The application of several principles resulting in the revitalization of any or all
portions of the urban structure which are not fulfilling the functions for which they
were designed.
• Urban renewal generally applies to

 Inner-city areas, central business district:

Urban renewal is required for:

 traffic problems,
 congestion,
 dilapidated buildings.
 Centrally located in historical districts including non-
residential as well as residential land uses-
 inadequate housing,
 environmental degradation,
 presence of non-conforming uses.
History
 Urban renewal has been operative since humans first built permanent settlements.
Following the progress of history and the passage of time, old cities are in a constant
process of metamorphosis and unavoidably have to face the necessity of continuous
regeneration.
• During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, coordinated efforts on the part of local
governments, reform groups and business interests arise whose intent was to
eliminate the physical manifestations of urban decline.
• The renewal of Paris by Haussmann is thought to be the first
large scale urban renewal project implemented.
• The United States was among the first countries to develop
specific national programs during mid- nineteenth century. Old and New Paris
Haussmannisation
Principles
At the first International Seminar on Urban Renewal, in August 1958

The three principles of urban renewal were identified as:

1. Redevelopment, consisting of demolition and reconstruction;

2. Rehabilitation, improvement of the original structures, and
3. Conservation, preservation of historical monuments, and generally not with
residential areas.

• Claude H. Boistière, of the French Ministry of Reconstruction and Housing,

identified the different approaches to urban renewal as rehabilitation, complete
demolition and rebuilding, and a combination of both, considering conservation
to be a form of rehabilitation.
Approaches

I. Slum clearance: demolition of dilapidated dwellings located in a slum

II. Redevelopment: the demolition of an existing building and its replacement by a
new building
III. Rehabilitation : the repair and improvement of existing structurally sound
property
IV. Housing improvement : improvements of dwellings by provision of essential
basic amenities
V. Conservation : to retain intact or unchanged.
VI. Environmental improvements : main emphasis is to improve environmental
conditions
VII. Economic renewal : improvement of economic conditions of dwellers
 Effective
functioning
of
Administrativ
e towns
Lack of accommodate
modern an event of
facilities magnitude

To conserve Causes Necessity due

historic to natural
monuments/ /man-made
environment calamity

Market
Obsolescence
driven change
of land uses
of land use
Concept
• Urban Renewal programs are generally undertaken by public authorities or by local
governments.
• The emphasis is on those parts which have fallen below current standards of public
acceptability.
Projects

Melbourne Docklands urban renewal project,

New Haven, USA before and after (freeway a transformation of a large disused docks
construction).
Processes of Urban Renewal
I. Envisioning Change: The Scoping Phase: Scoping is a process, which provides
decision makers with a strategic assessment to identify and promote regeneration.
II. Designing a Web of Actions and Institutions: The
Planning Phase : The planning framework establishes the
long-term vision and context. It is vital to sustaining the
regeneration vision through the inevitable changes.
III. Incentivizing Private Funding: The Financing
Phase: urban regeneration initiative is public sector or
private sector led affects the types of financing tools.
Large-scale urban regeneration projects are complex,
require immense resources to be planned and implemented
properly. 
IV. Evolution from Ideas to Action: The
Implementation Phase: Implementation phase entails
translating the vision for long-term change into the
financial, contractual and institutional relationship
between the public and private sectors
Source:
1. Urban regeneration/The World Bank
Post War Reconstruction
• “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:
1. The housing act of 1949, A demolition
site near Old
2. The housing act of 1954, and State House in
3. The federal-aid highway act of 1956. Boston, Circa
1965-1968
• Up until 1974, the federal government
funded a nationwide policy of demolition
and large-scale clearance.
• The post-war opportunity to rebuild some of
these cities enabled the implementation of
modernist planning ideals.
Source:
1. Urban renewal wastelands/citylab

From a televised demolition of a Pruitt-Igoe

building in St. Louis on April 22, 1972.
Effects:

•  The cores of cities, which had been home to diverse communities, get remade for
higher income people. 
• They lost the social connections, the cultural connections, and the communities that
were forever torn apart.
• A lot of the policy addressed the physical aspects of cities. There were often
physical problems—for example, of electricity, plumbing, and general dilapidation
—but fixing those with clearance created a whole host of social problems.
• Redevelopment tore down one out of every six dwelling units there, displacing
people and businesses as well.
• Businesses suffered because of their specific neighborhood ties.
• It faced economic effects
HAUSSMANN'S RENOVATION OF PARIS
 By the end of the Middle Ages Paris had become a complex urban structure consisting of several
core settlements now joined to one another.
 Apart from some of the churches there were practically no monumental accents.
 The old, spontaneously evolving network of narrow and twisty streets, most of which ran parallel or
away from the bank of the river, was already inadequate.
 Towards the end of the 17th century Paris, together with Vienna, was probably the most heavily
developed town in Europe.
 Houses were being built higher and higher, the courtyards becoming more cramped and the traffic more
chaotic in the narrow streets
Evolution of planning
1760

• Proper water mains and sewage system were prescribed in

the plan.
• Narrow and polluted streets.
• Regular grid housing blocks.

1765

• New principal streets were added.

• More round open spaces were prescribed.
• No pedestrian footpath.
• Busy food market around the open spaces.

1834

• New market halls were introduced in order avoid the

cramped market places along the streets.
• Proper water conduits prescribed.
• New sewage system prescribed due to deterioration of
sewage system introduced earlier
 Planning principles
N
 During a time of industrial change and cultural advancement, A
Paris became the new home for many, P
overcrowding the ancient districts and spreading O
L
disease.
E
O
 City untouched since the Middle Ages, was in dire need of N
reflecting the new modern ways and putting an end to the III
spreading medical epidemics.

 The tight confines of Medieval Paris were hindering the city’s

potential for growth and desire to transform into a well-
organized urban center. H
A
 Napoleon III set about bringing order and structure to the U
chaotic, cramped city and putting an end to its' identity crisis . S
S
 Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann, chosen by Napoleon III to M
lead the project, created new roads, public parks, public A
monuments, as well as installing new sewers and changing the N
architectural façade of the city. N
 Paris before Haussmann
 In the middle of the nineteenth
century, the center of Paris was
overcrowded, dark, dangerous, and
unhealthy.

 In these conditions, disease spread

very quickly. Cholera epidemics
ravaged the city in 1832 and 1848

 Traffic circulation was another major

problem.
The first map is of Pre-Haussmann Paris

 The center of the city was also a

cradle of discontent and revolution
 Initial planning and execution-”Demolition man”
 Haussmann moulded the city into a geometric grid, dividing
Medieval Paris into new sections.

 His plan brought symmetry to the city, something it was

lacking beforehand.

 The widening of the streets would relieve the cramped city

and allow for the people to get around more easily.

 Running alongside the new roads, were rows of chestnut

trees, which allowed Haussmann to maintain the geometric
and symmetrical aesthetic that he had created with the new
roads.

 To accompany the new streets and provide visual unity to the

entire city, Haussmann and his team of architects constructed
a unifying architectural façade that changed the shape of
Paris

 Haussmann envisioned a city focused visually and

functionally on major institutions ,major architectural units
linked by great avenues; also monuments like Notre Dame
isolated and turned into museum pieces
 The next step in Haussmann’s plan for the
new Paris was to divide the city into districts

 The plan “implied the destruction of the old,

plan involved the demolition of 19,730 historic
buildings and the construction of 34,000 new
ones.

 Haussmann not only improved the appearance

of Paris, but also the health of the people. By
widening the streets and building more
housing, he eased the overcrowding and
lowered the threat of disease.

 The new sewer system also helped create a

cleaner Paris by channeling the waste water
and human waste away from the city
 Problems faced by Haussmann while executing his plan
• The existing architecture in Paris proved to be his greatest enemy
when laying out the new roads.

• With this magnificent transformation of Paris into a modern city,

came a big budget

• According to the article “Money and Politics in the Rebuilding of

Paris, Haussmann calculated in 1869 that the cost of rebuilding
Paris since the project’s beginning in 1851 was to be
2,500,000,000 francs.

• With the addition of new elements to the project, the budget only
soared. Many people living in Paris during the time felt that
Haussmann and crew had lied to them felt that the city had been
paralyzed by the never ending construction

• Haussmann did not have time to finish the third phase of his
planning
Paris post Haussmann
Haussmann's successor as prefect of the Seine appointed JeanCharles
Alphand, the head of Haussmann's department of parks and
plantations, as the director of works of Paris.

Despite their intense criticism of Napoleon III and Haussmann during the
Second Empire, the leaders of the new Third Republic continued and
finished his renovation projects.

The thick lines represent Haussmann

boulevard
What is community?
It is a social entity made of people or families who have the following
characteristics.
• Live in the same geographical area
• Share common goals or problems
• Share similar development aspirations
• Have similar interests or social network or relationship at local
level
• Have a common leadership and tradition

Community participation
A process by which a community mobilizes its resources, initiates
and takes responsibility for its own development activities and share in
decision making for and implementation of all other development
programs for the overall improvement of its health status
Through this process, the people gain greater control over the social,
political, and economic and environmental factors.
Aims
• It develops self-reliance
• It develops critical awareness
• It develops problem solving
skills
Factors which influence the degree of Community participation
positively
• Relevance and accountability
• Education status of the community
• Community infrastructure (including communication network)
• Economic factors
• Social and cultural factors
• The level of inter sectoral collaboration
• Suppression of involvement and initiative by
projects which create dependency
• Political stability
• Good leadership
• Motivated community
• A sense of ownership
• Locally available resources
 What is townscape?
• Townscape, like the rural landscape, reflects the relationship between
people and place and the part it plays in forming the setting to our
everyday lives.
• It results from the way that the different components of our
environment – both natural and cultural - interact and are understood
and experienced by people.
 Townscape Character Assessment
• A townscape character assessment may present a description of the
townscape that is distinctive to that place, supported by materials such as
maps, illustrations and photographs. It can provide an understanding of how
a place has evolved and developed over time to respond to natural, social
and economic drivers, and how this is reflected in the layout of streets, the
architecture of buildings and the materials used. Historic Area Assessments
may also be used to inform the historic environment aspects of the
townscape character assessment
• This understanding of the intrinsic character and qualities of the place can
then be used to guide the location, design, scale, massing and type of
development that can be accommodated, such as public realm
improvements, new buildings or an urban park.
• A townscape character assessment can also form the basis for assessing the
effects of change, to help decision-takers decide whether a new
development is appropriate in its context
Benefits of townscape character assessment
• Follows a rigorous, objective and evidence based approach;
• Establishes a robust evidence base specifically linked to a place;
• Provides baseline evidence at the appropriate scale to inform
different types of judgements and decisions;
• Follows a holistic approach to the whole geographic area being
assessed, rather than focusing on special or protected sites or
features;
• Forms a spatial framework of townscape character types and/or
areas to which different policy applications and decisions can be
applied;
• Integrates natural and cultural considerations and includes an
understanding of how a place is experienced, perceived and valued
by people;
• Identifies the key elements, features and characteristics that come
together to create the intrinsic sense of place and character of a
locality; and
• Creates a snapshot-in-time, against which future change can be
monitored and managed.
THANK YOU