ABSTRACT
In some respects World War II, like its predecessor, interrupted the metropolitan movement; in others it intensified these developments. In contrast with the twenties, when the federal government had hastened to relinquish its war powers and to abandon its urban projects, the post-war problems of the middle and late forties drew the federal and municipal authorities into closer collaboration. The campaign for the housing act had, however, brought a new and troublesome issue to the fore. Despite the problems and uncertainties that surround them at the mid-century, most metropolitan leaders, responding to the dynamic growth of their communities, voiced confidence in their future. Scholars, in increasing numbers, were studying not only the social problems of the slums, the suburbs, and other characteristic urban neighbourhoods, but also the relationships between neighbourhoods, classes, ethnic settlements, and other groups within specific cities and in cities in general.
