On the Theory and Policy of Neighborhood Consolidation

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Abstract
Economic analysis suggests the desirability of an integrated land use and housing policy for declining cities; planned neighborhood consolidation would help to preserve both standard housing and neighborhood commercial and social amenities, and might reduce public service costs. Housing allowances could be used to compensate relocated tenants and to insure their capacity to pay standard rents in conservation areas. Property value gains in conservation areas could be expected to exceed losses in clearance areas, indicating a more efficient use of urban resources and enabling a local authority to compensate losers out of the proceeds of a tax on gainers. Political obstacles to neighborhood consolidation are formidable. However, such a policy would be more humane than the alternative of letting neighborhood depopulation run its course while wasting rehabilitation funds in a fruitless gesture of even-handed distribution.

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