Kushner on Urban Neighborhood Regeneration

James Alan Kushner (Southwestern Law School) has posted Urban Neighborhood Regeneration and the Phases of Community Evolution After World War II in America on SSRN. Here's the abstract:

This article describes four distinct phases that urban neighborhoods have passed through in the last sixty years. The first phase, from World War II until 1968, followed a pattern of decentralization, investment in suburban infrastructure, and strict segregation. The second phase, 1968 to 1975 was marked by hyper-sprawl, the loss of the central city economic base and population, and hyper-segregation. The third phase, 1975-1990, was characterized by class segregation, increased cost to access the suburbs and increased class and racial separation. The fourth phase, 1990 to 2008, witnessed hyper-segregation, voluntary class, racial, and ethnic separation, and persistent racial discrimination. The article suggests that the United States may be entering a fifth post-war phase of Smart Growth, public transport, infill strategies, and New Urbanist and surburbanist designs producing greater diversity.

Ben Barros

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