urban renewal

American  

noun

1. the rehabilitation of city areas by renovating or replacing dilapidated buildings with new housing, public buildings, parks, roadways, industrial areas, etc., often in accordance with comprehensive plans.

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urban renewal British  

noun

1. the process of redeveloping dilapidated or no longer functional urban areas

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urban renewal ¹ Cultural  

1. Government-sponsored destruction of slum housing with a view to the construction of new housing.

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urban renewal ² Cultural  

1. Programs designed to clear, rebuild, and redevelop urban slums. Critics contend that although they bulldoze slums, urban renewal programs often have led to their replacement by office buildings and by apartment houses for the well-to-do.

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Large-scale urban renewal was engaged in during the 1960s and 1970s, after the departure of the rich and the middle class for America's suburbs had left many United States cities in decay and disrepair.

Etymology

Origin of urban renewal

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

urban renewal

The city never went through the aggressive urban renewal that gutted so many American historic areas, and retains a large collection of restored Victorian homes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

Head of Lagos's urban renewal office Gbolahan Oki did not respond to AFP requests for comment but told journalists in December that residents had been warned.

From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026

New Haven was a good place to study urban history: Its midcentury leaders strived to make it a “model city,” and deployed more per capita urban renewal money than in any city in the country.

From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2025

As one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, it has shape-shifted over the last 140 years under the forces of urban renewal and gentrification, as well as the unjust wartime incarceration of its residents.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2024

Alongside the neat gray wharf sheds that lined the river and canal across the railroad tracks, Lew Pants huddled, a silent and smoky plea for urban renewal.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole