The Paradox of Urban Revitalization: Progress and Poverty in America's Postindustrial Era

by Howard Gillette

In the twenty-first century, cities in the United States that had suffered most the shift to a postindustrial era entered a period widely proclaimed as an urban renaissance. From Detroit to Newark to Oakland and elsewhere commentators saw cities rising again. Yet revitalization generated a second urban crisis marked by growing inequality and civil unrest reminiscent of the upheavals associated with the first urban crisis in the mid-twentieth century. The urban poor and residents of color have remained very much at a disadvantage in the face of racially biased capital investments, narrowing options for affordable housing, and mass incarceration. In profiling nine cities grappling with challenges of the twenty-first century, author Howard Gillette, Jr. evaluates the uneven efforts to secure racial and class equity as city fortunes have risen. Charting the tension between the practice of corporate subsidy and efforts to assure social justice, The Paradox of Urban Revitalization assesses the course of urban politics and policy over the past half century, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended everything, and details prospects for achieving greater equity in the years ahead.

Genres: Urban Planning

344 pages, Hardcover

Published June 7, 2022

Reviews

[Tony]

Excellent essays and analysis on several cities. The paradox lies in the ideal outcomes do not always emerge from the best of intentions when it comes to urban redevelopment.
It is complex work with varied and layered favors. Macro and existential threats prey upon micro conditions and dynamics. The private and public sectors look to partner to produce places that provide quality of life and stable economies. The goal Posts move when yardage is gained. The work goes on. Never quite completed.