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Demolition as urban policy in the American Rust Belt

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  • Jason Hackworth

Abstract

Demolition has long been a component of urban policy in the United States and elsewhere. Until recently, however, demolition was seen as a mere component of a wider policy—e.g. the first step to build an affordable housing complex, or a revived commercial strip. Recently some have suggested that demolition can have stand-alone regenerative effects—that is, if blighted housing is demolished, surrounding markets and neighborhoods will heal and regenerate without further intervention. This article challenges this logic by examining neighborhoods in the American Rust Belt where ad hoc demolition has been the predominant urban policy in the past 40 years. In total, there are 269 neighborhoods in 49 cities that have lost more than 50% of their housing since 1970. In aggregate, these activities have led to more housing loss, and affected more land area than even the urban renewal period, yet have not led to market rebound or a decrease in social marginality.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason Hackworth, 2016. "Demolition as urban policy in the American Rust Belt," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(11), pages 2201-2222, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:48:y:2016:i:11:p:2201-2222
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X16654914
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Justin B. Hollander & Jeremy Németh, 2011. "The bounds of smart decline: a foundational theory for planning shrinking cities," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 349-367, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Larson, Matthew & Xu, Yanqing & Ouellet, Leah & Klahm, Charles F., 2019. "Exploring the impact of 9398 demolitions on neighborhood-level crime in Detroit, Michigan," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 57-63.
    2. Dustin L. Herrmann & Wen-Ching Chuang & Kirsten Schwarz & Timothy M. Bowles & Ahjond S. Garmestani & William D. Shuster & Tarsha Eason & Matthew E. Hopton & Craig R. Allen, 2018. "Agroecology for the Shrinking City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.

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