Start here · Essential guide
From Blight to Bloom: The Power of Urban Renewal
What urban blight means, how cities identify and measure it, and why the label itself is contested, with the trade-offs any renewal effort has to weigh.
Planning and People
Blight and Regeneration
What blight means and how neighborhoods are redeveloped.
From Blight to Beauty: The Art of Urban Redevelopment
A plain explanation of what urban redevelopment means, who leads it, the tools involved, and how it differs from renewal and regeneration.
From Blight to Beauty: The Art of Urban Renewal in Action
A step-by-step walk through a generic renewal project, from choosing a site to occupancy, using a clearly hypothetical two-block example.
From Blight to Beauty: The Power of Urban Renewal in Transforming Neighborhoods
How whole neighborhoods tend to change over a decade of renewal, who benefits, who bears the costs, and the gentrification and displacement trade-offs.
From Blight to Bloom: Transforming Abandoned Spaces in Cities
Why buildings and lots get abandoned, the safety and legal problems they create, and the main ways cities bring abandoned spaces back into use.
From Blight to Boom: The Art of Urban Revitalization
How urban revitalization efforts combine investment, services and policy, why results vary from place to place, and what remains uncertain.
From Blight to Brilliance: The Art of Urban Regeneration
How urban regeneration combines physical, social and economic goals, and how that approach contrasts with demolition-led renewal of the past.
The Art of Urban Revitalization: Case Studies from Around the World
Three clearly hypothetical composite cases show recurring patterns in urban revitalization, with no real projects named and a note on where evidence is thin.
Urban Regeneration: A Guide to Revitalizing Abandoned Spaces
A practical guide to taking a neglected building or site through assessment, ownership questions, funding and reuse, with realistic cautions at each step.
Related topics
More in planning and people
Renewal and Planning Planning basics, heritage reuse, downtowns and cultural districts. Inclusive Cities Equity, diversity and renewal without displacement. Vacant Property Reuse Bringing abandoned buildings and lots back into use. Historic Districts Renewing older neighborhoods while respecting their heritage. Neighborhood Revitalization Renewing whole neighborhoods with residents, housing and local services. Housing and Equity Housing costs, markets and fairness in renewal and development. Community Impact of Renewal Effects of renewal on culture, services, health, politics and daily life. Community Engagement How residents take part in shaping development and renewal. Governance and Policy How government, planning and design carry public policy into the city. Project Delivery The practical steps between a renewal idea and a finished project. Maps, Surveys and Evidence Simple methods planners use to see what is happening in a place.