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This history of postwar Society Hill, Philadelphia illuminates the role of photographs as planning knowledge and the relationship between historic preservation and urban renewal practice. Photographs both reflect and shape shifting values, preferences, and power dynamics among stakeholders in the built environment. Four photographic categories make this clear: “before images” selectively sample pre-renewal wrongs; “counter-images” picture planning alternatives; “process images” show the messy nature of renewal in progress; and “after images” document the completed neighborhood, while obscuring the destructive character of even preservation-oriented renewal. This case illustrates the significance of culturally constructed qualitative data to both past and present planning practice.

Keywords

planning history historic preservation housing neighborhood planning urban history urban form photographs urban renewal Philadelphia PA

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Picturing Preservation and Renewal: Photographs as Planning Knowledge in Society Hill,Philadelphia

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