Urban redevelopment in sunbelt cities : strategies and approaches

Abstract

Most Sunbelt cities reflect the suburbanization that characterized urban growth and development over the past forty years. Given this dispersion, these cities often contain large areas of strategically located land that once was fully-developed, but is now either vacant or dramatically under-utilized. This condition is particularly prevalent in the older center city areas. In general, planners and government officials view these under-developed sites as having a claim on some locational advantage; they have actively worked to successfully redevelop such locations. Private sector developers, however, have mixed responses to this hypothesis, generally ignoring such under-developed older locations. This thesis examines the nature of urban under-development in Sunbelt communities, organizing the field into an explanatory matrix based on typological, causal and situational factors. The work builds on the premise that inner-city environments represent untapped competitive advantages, and addresses the roles of both the public and private sectors in realizing the potentials represented by these under-developed properties. To date, formalized responsibility for urban redevelopment has been predominantly in the hands of the public sector. However, as financial, economic and regulatory roles change, the private sector will increasingly be called upon to help advance public agendas. Can the strengths of the private sector be brought to bear on these under-developed properties, thereby helping advance the public sector's social and economic programs, while still meeting the private sector's financial returns? The challenge in the upcoming decades will be to economically and profitably redevelop the myriad parcels of land that litter the city centers. Because the public moneys to do so are not available, the financing, direction and operational energy for such projects will have to come from the private sector. The goal for the cities in such instances, will be to streamline the process of redevelopment, and to provide the organizational, regulatory and legal framework within which private sector developers can profitably exploit the largely untapped potentials of these in-town locations. This thesis documents four examples of urban neighborhood redevelopment efforts, and compares and contrasts them for elements that might be fruitfully applied to future redevelopment efforts.