ABSTRACT
Methodologies and techniques of economic appraisal of whether to rehabilitate/refurbish or redevelop have been refined since the early 1960s. These economic appraisals come within the field of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses. Cost-benefit and costeffectiveness analyses were developed for application to a variety of spheres, usually in public sector investment in the 1960s. One of the first applications was to housing, particularly in urban renewal policies. In the 1960s historical context, cost-effectiveness analyses were used as a means of determining whether to conserve low-income housing stocks in a situation of chronic housing shortages. As we shall presently see, costeffectiveness analysis can be broadened into a more comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, with versatile application to wider fields of urban investment, including commercial offices, shopping centres, and others. Cost-effectiveness analysis gives focus to only comparative capital and recurrent costs, whereas cost-benefit analysis includes social and revenue benefits as well as the costs.
