PERSPECTIVES on the INNER CITY: Its Changing Character, Reasons for Decline and Revival

PERSPECTIVES ON THE INNER CITY: Its Changing Character, Reasons for Decline and Revival L.S. Bourne Research Paper No. 94 Draft of a chapter for "The Geography of Modern Metropolitan Systems" Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, Columbia, Ohio Centre for Urban and Community Studies University of Toronto February 1978 Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Objectives 3 2. WHAT AND WHERE IS THE INNER CITY? DEFINITIONS 5 AND CONCEPTS A Process Approach 6 A Problem Approach 9 3. DIVERSITY: THE CHANGING CHARACTER OF THE INNER CITY 14 Types of Inner City Neighborhoods 16 Social Disparities and the Inner City 20 Case Studies 25 4. WHY THE DECLINE OF THE INNER CITY? 30 The "Natural" Evolution Hypothesis 30 Preferences and Income: The "Pull" Hypothesis 32 The Obsolescence Hypothesis 35 The "Unintended" Policy Hypothesis 36 The Exploitation Hypothesis: Power, 40 Capitalism and the Political Economcy of Urbanization The Structural Change Hypothesis 43 The Fiscal Crisis and the Underclass Hypothesis 46 The Black Inner City in Cultural Isolation: 48 The Conflict Hypothesis Summary: Which Hypothesis of Decline is Correct? 51 5. BACK TO THE CITY: IS THE INNER CITY REVIVING? 55 6. CONCLUSIONS AND A LOOK AHEAD 63 Problems, Policies and Emerging Issues 66 Summary Comments 69 FOOTNOTES 71 REFERENCES 73 Preface The inner city is again a subject of widespread debate in most western countries. This paper undertakes to outline the nature of that debate and to document the reasons for inner city decline and revitalization. The argument is made that there is no single definition of the inner city which is universally ap plicable. Nor is there a unique set of properties, nor a single theory, which would account for the diversity of inner cities and for their decline and/or revival. A set of hypotheses related to decline is examined and all are found wanting; as is the evi dence which would support or refute assertions of a widespread return-to-the-city movement. This paper represents a draft of a review chapter prepared for a textbook entitled "The Geography of Modern Metropolitan Systems", edited by R.A. Harper and C.M. Christian. The book is to be published later this year by Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, Columbus, Ohio and is reprinted here with their permission. The purpose of releasing the paper in this form is to solicit re actions, from an audience, not likely to be consumers of the final textbook, in time to permit revisions. Since this is a preliminary draft, formal permission to reprint figures and tables has not as yet been obtained. Comments would be appreciated. L.S. Bourne PERSPECTIVES ON THE INNER CITY: Its Changing Character, Reasons for Decline and Revival L.S. Bourne University of Toronto 1. INTRODUCTION The inner city represents both a geographic area, albeit vague, and a cluster of social problems. In recent years governments, the media and academic researchers have shown a renewed interest in changes within the inner areas of their largest cities. Those tradi- tional problems so often equated with the inner city - physical de- terioration, poverty, a declining economic and population base, crime, social pathologies and fiscal difficulties - all appear to have wor- sened under recent pressures of inflation, high unemployment, racial tension, economic uncertainty and slower population growth. Although the oldest parts of cities have been considered cri- tical areas in one regard or another since cities began (see Vance, 1977), current trends and problems are usually attributed to the process of rapid urbanization under industrialization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The growth of the indus- trial city, particularly the larger metropolis, laid the basis for many of the inner city characteristics which we observe today. Rapid and uncontrolled economic growth, unplanned and often poorly con- structed working-class neighborhoods, and short-sighted government policies combined with inadequate social services, created a legacy of debt which was not to be called in for many decades. - 2 - Historically, political interest in the inner city has been in consistent, and policy initiatives have been largely cosmetic. Only during periods of unusual social or economic stress has the inner city been in the political forefront. For example, the inner city became an area of social concern during the period of massive in dustrial growth in nineteenth-century Britain, when working-class and often poor-quality housing districts expanded dramatically (Engels, 1844); in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century America when immigration swamped the older cities; during the immediate post-war reconstruction period in Europe; during the 1950's urban renewal phase of American urban policy; and following the 1960's social (racial) riots in U.S. cities. At other times interest in the inner city waned (Kennedy, 1974; Harrison, 1974). What is different about the current interest in the inner city - and the rationale behind this chapter - is the recognition both of the increasing scale and complexity of the problems involved and the broadening context within which explanations and solutions are sought for these problems. The latter trend has resulted in the formulation of competing hypotheses to explain inner city decline. In particular there has been a shift away from simplistic assertions, often blaming the victim for the problems, towards an attempt to link the inner city to changes in the national economy, in demographic structure and in social attitudes, as well as to the direct and in direct effects of government and institutional policies. - 3 - Objectives The purpose of this paper is to outline the nature of the debate relating to the character of the inner city. It is not an attempt to provide detailed summaries of the geographic form and social problems of inner cities; these are available in numerous standard texts. Instead it seeks to clarify what processes are (or have been) operating to shape the character of the inner city, set in a spatial context whenever possible, and to outline the arguments on what can and should be done in terms of policy. vThe key questions are "why" have inner cities developed as they have, and why are many such areas now in rapid if not precipitious decline, while others remain relatively healthy and still others are revitalized. The approach used here draws heavily on national and international differences in the character and well-being of inner city areas. Emphasis is giveq to the diversity of these areas, within the same city and between cities in different regions or countries. Gener alizations across national boundaries are always difficult, but are even more so for the inner city. All too often we assume that our own images of what the inner city is like are universally appli cable; by and large they are not. The chapter is organized into six broad sections. The follow ing section examines definitions and concepts. What is the inner city and how is it defined? Is one set of common definitional cri teria possible or necessary? The third section examines the diverse - 4 - and changing character of inner city areas, with examples drawn from cities in several western countries. The fourth section looks at explanations for the increasing plight of inner cities in many western countries and the fifth examines the question of inner city revitalization, and the so-called "return to the city" trend. The concluding section looks briefly at differing views on the future of the inner city. - 5 - 2. WHAT AND WHERE IS THE INNER CITY? DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS There is no single definition of the inner city; nor should there be. The term is strictly relative. That is, the inner city has to be defined from a specific point of reference and set within a particular social and political context. In some instances, such as a planned new town or a city centred on religious or his- toric monuments, the term inner city has little meaning or utility. To most observers, however, the inner city means the older por- tion of an urban area innnediately surrounding the central business district (C.B.D.). To some it includes the C.B.D., to others it does not. Geographically it may extend only a short distance out- ward from the C.B.D., or it may extend to the political limits of the central city or even beyond. It may also refer only to the area of "transitional" land uses between the C.B.D. and the ring of "mature" neighborhoods beyond. The term inner city itself is also value-laden. To many stu- dents of the city it conveys the image of an area of blight, poverty and crime. Some equate the inner city with the slum or ghetto, or with specific kinds of ethnic or racial communities which happen to be located near the C.B.D. These views are not only misleading but they are clearly ethnocentric and class-specific. They reflect the - 6 - ...... adle-class social status of most urban observers and writers. Not surprisingly, given the vagueness of the term inner city and the prevalence of subjective interpretations of its character, most standard texts totally avoid any formal definition. Use of the term in geography and planning is largely implicit. A Process Approach Whatever definition we use it must reflect the processes which are operating to produce the specific attributes we assign to the inner city. Since these processes vary from one city to another, and from one political and economic system to another, the meaning of the term inner city will also vary. The inner city is defined here as a geographic area or set of areas in which the built environment, that is the social overhead capital, is on average older than that in the rest of the urban area and which, by definition, occupies a central location.

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