ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the prospects and pitfalls of applying cost-benefit methods to issues of urban and regional planning with an examination of the use of cost–benefit analysis to evaluate schemes for improving the quality of urban housing. It assesses the traditional framework for analysing the classic case of residential slum clearance before looking at additional models for evaluating housing replacement or rehabilitation schemes. The chapter shows that as an alternative to measurement of site productivity effects, estimation of resident benefits appears to be feasible using measures of consumer surplus estimated. A separate strand of analysis in the field of housing and urban renewal falls into the category of cost-effectiveness analysis, concentrating on the minimization of cost subject to the provision of a given standard of accommodation. So far as the cost-effectiveness model is concerned, it has been officially adopted as the basis for deciding between housing rehabilitation and redevelopment in Britain.
