What is urban renewal?
The main purpose of an urban renewal plan is to help stimulate economic growth; to
create a climate and opportunity for private investment; and improve and expand
housing opportunities in the urban renewal area.
Urban renewal has been around for over fifty years. For many of those years, the federal
government was involved. But in the early 1970's, the feds got out of the urban renewal
business and replaced those funds with community development block grant monies.
However, Massachusetts has kept urban renewal on its books and it is still a planning
tool that many communities, such as Springfield, Worcester, Boston, and Fitchburg, just
to name a few, take advantage of. The size of the urban renewal areas and their
programs vary as to the needs of their particular communities.

Show All Answers

1. What is urban renewal?
2. How is the urban development area determined?
3. Why look at an urban renewal plan at this time?
4. How long does the planning process take?
5. What are the elements of an urban renewal plan?