Human Renewal in the Revitalization of the Industrial City

Abstract

Forces following World War II caused a flow of industrial jobs to the suburbs, trapping a central-city minority population unable to compete for the office jobs remaining. Service jobs primarily for the women and a welfare system unwilling to support male-headed families contributed to family breakup. A variety of programs were introduced in response, but the better they worked the worse conditions became because the successful joined the flow to the suburbs. The result is a dual economy with a modern sector staffed by commuting expatriates overlaid on a native population basically unconnected to the city's economy. Since there are already more jobs than residents in the central city, economic development is largely irrelevant to them. The challenge is to bring the residents into the heart of the city's economy, yet create an environment that will encourage the successful to stay.

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