ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out the key physical ‘bricks and mortar’ and social and community welfare urban regeneration initiatives of the early years of urban regeneration. Concern relating to the ‘rediscovery of urban poverty’ led to a new set of strategies for its amelioration from the late 1960s. Urban problems that were prevalent in the period from 1945 to 1968 were linked to physical housing conditions and unrestricted urban growth, which was leading to sprawl and ribbon development. The main difficulty with green belts in the post-war period was the severe limits placed on urban growth. The policy began as ‘Urban Aid’ in 1968 and became the Urban Programme after the Urban Areas Act was passed. Little explicitly resulted from the Urban White Paper, as its release came at a time when there was increasing speculation as to the role of government spending and administration in solving social and economic problems.
