urban renewal

See synonyms for urban renewal on Thesaurus.com
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.

Origin of urban renewal

1
First recorded in 1950–55
  • Also called urban redevelopment.

Words Nearby urban renewal

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How to use urban renewal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for urban renewal

urban renewal

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for urban renewal (1 of 2)

urban renewal

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.

urban renewal

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

Notes for urban renewal

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.