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Slum Clearance and Urban Renewal in the United States

Author

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  • William J. Collins
  • Katharine L. Shester

Abstract

We study the local effects of a federal program that helped cities clear areas for redevelopment, rehabilitate structures, complete city plans, and enforce building codes. We use an instrumental variable strategy to estimate the program's effects on city-level measures of income, property values, employment and poverty rates, and population. The estimated effects on income, property values, and population are positive and economically significant. They are not driven by changes in demographic composition. Estimated effects on poverty reduction and employment are positive but imprecise. The results are consistent with a model in which local productivity is enhanced. (JEL I32, N32, N92, R23, R38, R58)

Suggested Citation

  • William J. Collins & Katharine L. Shester, 2013. "Slum Clearance and Urban Renewal in the United States," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 239-273, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:5:y:2013:i:1:p:239-73
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.5.1.239
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sylvain Chareyron & Florence Goffette-Nagot & Lucie Letrouit, 2019. "Impacts of a French urban renewal program on local housing markets," Post-Print halshs-02353718, HAL.
    2. Yang Bai & Wei Zhou & Yanjun Guan & Xue Li & Baohua Huang & Fengchun Lei & Hong Yang & Wenmin Huo, 2020. "Evolution of Policy Concerning the Readjustment of Inefficient Urban Land Use in China Based on a Content Analysis Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Richard Hornbeck & Daniel Keniston, 2017. "Creative Destruction: Barriers to Urban Growth and the Great Boston Fire of 1872," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(6), pages 1365-1398, June.
    4. Valeria Saiu, 2020. "Evaluating Outwards Regeneration Effects (OREs) in Neighborhood-Based Projects: A Reversal of Perspective and the Proposal for a New Tool," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Chareyron, Sylvain & Goffette-Nagot, Florence & Letrouit, Lucie, 2022. "Externalities from urban renewal: Evidence from a French program," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Shi, Ying & Hartley, Daniel & Mazumder, Bhash & Rajan, Aastha, 2022. "The effects of the Great Migration on urban renewal," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    7. Omer Ozgen, 2020. "Impact of Slum Redevelopment Projects on Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Addis Ababa," CSAE Working Paper Series 2020-23, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    8. Hanlon, W.Walker & Heblich, Stephan, 2022. "History and urban economics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    9. Leah Platt Boustan & Robert A. Margo, 2011. "White Suburbanization and African-American Home Ownership, 1940-1980," NBER Working Papers 16702, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Chen, Daniel L. & Yeh, Susan, 2016. "Government Expropriation Increases Economic Growth and Racial Inequality: Evidence from Eminent Domain," TSE Working Papers 16-693, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    11. Daniel Aaronson & Daniel Hartley & Bhashkar Mazumder & Martha Stinson, 2022. "The Long-run Effects of the 1930s Redlining Maps on Children," Working Papers 22-56, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    12. Boustan, Leah P. & Margo, Robert A., 2013. "A silver lining to white flight? White suburbanization and African–American homeownership, 1940–1980," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 71-80.
    13. Guiwen Liu & Zhiyong Yi & Xiaoling Zhang & Asheem Shrestha & Igor Martek & Lizhen Wei, 2017. "An Evaluation of Urban Renewal Policies of Shenzhen, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-17, June.
    14. Yang, Xintong & Dong, Xin & Yi, Chengdong, 2022. "Informal housing clearance, housing market, and labor supply," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Matthew Ranson & Lisa Tarquinio & Audrey Lew, 2016. "Modeling the Impact of Climate Change on Extreme Weather Losses," NCEE Working Paper Series 201602, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised May 2016.
    16. Albanese, Giuseppe & Ciani, Emanuele & de Blasio, Guido, 2021. "Anything new in town? The local effects of urban regeneration policies in Italy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Prottoy A. Akbar & Sijie Li & Allison Shertzer & Randall P. Walsh, 2019. "Racial Segregation in Housing Markets and the Erosion of Black Wealth," NBER Working Papers 25805, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Xu, Hangtian, 2017. "Spatial Reorganization in Urban Redevelopment: Evidence from an Earthquake in a Metropolitan Area," MPRA Paper 78986, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Sumit Agarwal & Yanying Chen & Jing Li & Yi Jin Tan, 2021. "Hedonic Price of Housing Space," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(2), pages 574-609, June.
    20. Jeffrey Lin, 2017. "Understanding Gentrification’s Causes," Economic Insights, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, vol. 2(3), pages 9-17, July.
    21. Leah Platt Boustan & Devin Bunten & Owen Hearey, 2013. "Urbanization in the United States, 1800-2000," Working Papers 2013-7, Princeton University. Economics Department..

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • N92 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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