Civic war: People, politics, and the Battle of New Boston, 1945--1967.
详细信息
- 作者：Rose ; Timothy Francis.
- 学历：Doctor
- 年：2006
- 导师：Martin, Waldo
- 毕业院校：University of California
- 专业：History, United States.;Political Science, General.;Urban and Regional Planning.
- CBH：3254053
- Country：USA
- 语种：English
- FileSize：30057523
- Pages：547
文摘
This dissertation argues that Boston's thirty-five years of urban renewal ultimately damaged the city. Following decades of redevelopment initiatives and investments into the hundreds of millions of dollars, Bostonians, nevertheless, found themselves caught up in a maelstrom of political and social turmoil. The methods used to fashion and implement the redevelopment program fueled this civic discord. While the renewal agenda succeeded brilliantly in building a contemporary city center and creating a new financial infrastructure for Boston, the plan's overwhelming emphasis on catering to the desires of the economic elite and ambitious politicians ensured its failure insofar as building a healthier city. The levels of working class and poor resentment, distrust, alienation, and resistance during this period ultimately demonstrate the degree to which the renewal plan inadequately attended to their needs.;The inequitable and heavy-handed manner in which the renewal program took shape launched a protracted civic war between low-income residents, who were fighting to protect their traditions and institutions, and progressive elements of the city's financial and political elite, who wanted to resurrect the dying city. The social implications of the city's financial and political elite, who wanted to resurrect the dying city. The social implications of the battle ran deep. As beneficiaries of the redevelopment program touted "New Boston" as a landmark achievement in the annals of urban renewal, many components of the renewal plan adversely affected those whose lives were closest to the margin. Around Boston, contested spaces and differing visions of the city's future engendered remarkable hostility between those who felt under siege and those who championed change. By the end of the 1960s, Boston was a socially and politically polarized city set to explode.