ABSTRACT
Following the disturbances in American cities in the late-1960s the problems of the core areas of large cities have attracted considerable attention. Many of the difficulties of the city centre and inner city were first manifest in American cities but by the 1970s were also becoming evident in British and other West European cities. During the twentieth century, land use planning by public authorities has evolved to bring order to the pace and form of spatial change and to arbitrate between the interests of different groups. The arguments for the regeneration of core areas are several. At its simplest level the problems of poverty in the inner city demand some response on the grounds of social justice. The objectives of planning for the core area will depend on the analysis of the problem and the general strategies to be adopted.
