ABSTRACT
Under urban renewal the land has been assembled by the city and its sale or lease can carry with it a precise obligation to build what the city wants built. There has not been great sophistication among cities in the United States in regard to the use of urban renewal as a means of achieving public policy objectives, although in the past few years there has been an increasing awareness of its possibilities. During World War II Liverpool was the main gateway to Europe from the U.S.A. and Canada. As a result there was heavy war damage: nearly 26,000 houses were destroyed or seriously damaged and 400 industrial concerns were destroyed. Liverpool, whose central area is the hub of the Merseyside conurbation and the regional centre for two million people, is the first major city in England to produce a draft City Centre Map in accordance with procedures laid down by the Minister of Housing and Local Government in 1962.
