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

Lagos state officials say the demolition was necessary for safety and urban renewal reasons.

From Barron's • Jan. 16, 2026

When urban renewal bulldozed those communities, the benefits vanished.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025

Moses was racist, but several of his urban renewal peers, like Ed Logue in Boston or Elizabeth Wood in Chicago, had sincere progressive motives for tearing down and rebuilding cities.

From Slate • Sep. 16, 2024

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

The influx of federal urban renewal money was supposed to be a coup for Durham’s poor.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson