Renewing Urban Renewal

One of the things we do not do well in this country is learn from our mistakes. This is particularly true in the strengthening and rejuvenating of cities. To listen to the hype about new stadiums, aquariums, convention centers and downtown malls, one would think that cities are on a fast track to rebirth. To see photographs of miserable, overscaled public housing projects--effectively warehouses for poor people--blown up and replaced by architecturally attractive low-scaled "town homes," one would think neighborhood rebuilding is moving along nicely. And to observe once empty or neglected neighborhoods exhibiting renewed life is to be reassured that the organic rebirth process is always possible where an urban district has not been erased.

But beneath the pretty-picture surface is a disturbing trend: the repetition of past mistakes that will inevitably lead to severe problems no different from many of generations past. So it is cause to cheer when books come along to remind us of former destructive policies and help provoke scrutiny of practices that mimic them today.

Chester Hartman's Between Eminence & Notoriety: Four Decades of Radical Urban Planning is just such a book. A rare critical voice within the urban planning profession, Hartman graduated from and then taught urban planning at Harvard and other universities; served as consultant to many public and private agencies, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Civil Rights Commission; has written or edited more than a dozen books; and currently is president and executive director of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council in Washington. This book is a compendium of articles penned by him over four decades, covering displacement, affordable housing, poverty, race, social activism, transportation, the failings of planning schools and other pertinent issues. With a no-holds-barred style that reflects his lifelong social activism, Hartman is refreshingly direct in his criticism of professionals, educators and public officials.

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