Housing Act 1949: Urban Renewal Destroys More Black Homes Than It Builds

The Housing Act of 1949 authorizes $1 billion for urban renewal, requiring 'predominantly residential' use of cleared land. In practice, cities use the law to demolish Black neighborhoods and replace them with civic centers, universities, hospitals, and luxury housing. A 1964 study finds that urban renewal has demolished four times as many low-cost housing units as it has built. Sixty-three percent of families displaced by urban renewal are non-white. Martin Luther King Jr. calls urban renewal 'Negro removal.' The law creates no right to return for displaced residents.