Urban renewal is the process aimed at social upgrading through physical improvement of existing urban settlement to eliminate blight through survey and planning. In its widest sense, urban renewal covers the rehabilitation of an area by improvements, which need not necessary amount to rebuilding, and to the piecemeal replacement of obsolete properties renewal is the renewal of a substantial area in which the individual properties are related to the neighbourhood and the neighbourhood related to the entire urban structure. To be effective, the renewal of a decayed area must be sufficiently large in scale to maintain its character amid a blighted urban landscape.
Slums and uncontrolled settlements, often result from the increased concentration of population in an urban area and a consequent overcrowding and storage of suitable living accommodation, which create pressures on all infrastructures and services, threatening the survival of the existing a civil movement in a city center, and in others rehabilitations of decayed homes to improve the living conditions for residents, or it could mean getting undesirables out of desirable neighbourhood by spot clearance. In addition urban renewal is utilised by stabilising blighted neighbourhoods and encouraging residents to improve their properties; it could also serve in developing land that will attract new business into the community or clearing land that will get unpopular business out of the community and in still other assembling tracts of land on which subsidised low or middle income housing night be built.
Two main areas could be identified in which urban renewal is required. The first is the obsolescent town center where traffic congestion is the major problem and the second is the slum area, where blight is the chief feature to be combated. The renewal of town centers usually involves the provision of a large amount of commercial accommodation, which is often economically attractive to the private developer, while the development of slum areas requires as a rule, the building of low rented residential accommodation, which is uneconomic and so is left entirely to public anchorites for action.
- A desire to provide more pleasant and healthy living conditions to replace slums or blighted areas.
- A desire to improve the appearance of a city by substituting modern buildings for old substandard ones.
- A desire to provide living for a greater population close to the central business district (CBD), either with the objective of stimulating business there.
- It provides for scenic (attractive environment) and topographic feature in embarking on urban renewal, problems must be identified, aims set and the resources to undertake the task assembled.
The general nature of the problems giving rise to the need for urban renewal that already been considered. The techniques of urban renewal form an important part of estate management practice. The methods used and result obtained, however belong more to practice than to principle, but the basic and a brief study of their nature will indicate the more important principles that govern the process. They include:
- Lack of economic inducement for renewal.
- Unification of multiple ownerships
- Disturbance of existing occupation
- Provision of modern traffic needs
- Phasing of the development
- Choice of the development agency
- Securing optimum use pattern
- Selection of tenants is new development
- Retention of existing buildings
- Danger of future obsolescence
In slum areas, renewal is impossible unless aid can be given from public funds. The cost of acquiring obsolescent properties, re-housing the occupiers, rebuilding the new, improved standards of design, layout and amenity, is far more expensive than the value that can be derived from a residential scheme in most blighted areas.
The degree of blight usually determines the tools to use in correcting unwanted conditions.
1. Conservation: this can be categorized as one that prevents blight or preserving the area further development that may lead to environment hazard. It is used on area or neighbourhood of near standard quality with a few deficiencies examples of the might include a machine shop or junk yard in a residential neighbourhood, lack of part, a street system that invites a heavy volume of traffic through a neighbourhood, rather than control it or an old house converted to commercial or industrial use. The corrective measure here consists of individual treatment of trouble spot through minor repairs on code enforcement project depending on the degree or determining condition.
2. Rehabilitation: This is the restoration of a deteriorating neighbourhood into a good condition. Rehabilitation is used as a renewal technique in the neighbourhood where the degree to determined can be contained. This involves repairs of worn out areas or spot clearance. Under this system, the person retains ownership of properties and rehabilitates them with support from government through the provision of the lacking facilities and services such as road, water, electricity etc. the rehabilitation process in an urban renewal project consist of setting goals for the project, drawing up standards for residential and non-residential properties, surveying each property for sufficient detail to devising it’s planning for public improvement.
3. Upgrading: this is an approach by which blighted areas are provided with lacking infrastructure / socioeconomic facilities with minimum dislocation of the fabric of the area with the eventual improvement in both the physical structure and the social life of the area.
4. Redevelopment: This is a method where a whole area is pulled down and new structure and infrastructure put up. This is usually undertaken by the government because of the eager funds needed for it and statutory power needed in order to more people from that area and relocate them to another place pending the redevelopment process in most cases people are usually reluctant to leave the area and have to be ejected with force and even when redevelopment is finished such people do not return to the area as the area would have higher value this attract more wealthy people.
Strategy for Urban Renewal
Two strategy approaches are recommended for urban renewal; strategy and preventive.
1. Supportive policy: This is a strategy directed at upgrading existing facilities and services and providing others that are absent in a slum community. It has the following advantages:
- A reduction in the burden on public funds which otherwise would have been required for relocation in the case of total redevelopment.
- Security of tenure and access to credit for residents.
- Enhancement of the values of the and in question which has a multiplier effect on tenement rates payable to local government in such areas.
- Elimination of political and socio-economic problems that would otherwise have arisen with the attendant of well-established social fabrics. In short, it helps to ensure neighbourhood stability and security of tenure, which are not quantifiable in monetary terms.
2. Preventive policy: The preventive policy is most desirable. It presents greater challenges than other facing planners and decision makers making efforts to modernize decaying urban centres. The major challenges include the following:
- To develop a viable economy and revenue base at local, State and federal levels.
- To achieve full employment of the labour force wages and incomes that will commensurate with the cost of living.
- To improve the capacity of local government to manage urban environment.
- To develop a network of rural growth points and trading centers, which will promote rural development effectively and minimize rural-urban migration. The better life for rural dwellers has done a lost in this direction but there is need to fully assess it’s achievement and see what can be done to solve the problems that rear their heads in the programme. The same goes for the efforts of the directorate of food and rural infrastructure (DFFRI).
- To promote a general public awareness of the importance of environment sanitation and domestic hygiene.
- To promote community participation in the protection of the urban environment.
- To undertake the preceding challenges in a coherent manner.
Roles of Estate Surveyor in Urban Renewal Process
- Property development: This is one of the aspects of estate management. Property development estate surveyor involved in property development estate surveyor involved in property development can acquire large site for comprehensive redevelopment. Such site could be area around the periphery. Where large amount of land in available and they will embark on construction of also embark the infrastructure. Also property developers can also embark by rateability of some particular dilapidated structures by rehabilitating the buildings or reconstructing it. This would improve the value of the building and also encourage others to reconstruct their houses in order to increase the financial returns to the land and improve the living standard of that area.
- Selection of tenants: This is one of the duties of an estate surveyor. They are usually contracted by the landlord to get tenants for their properties. Selection of tenants is very important in ensuring that the objective of the property in met. Tenants have to be selected according to their suitability to the location. Unsuitable tenants may cause loss in value to premises and those adjoining and can also cause physical damage to the property. The class of tenants and occupation has to be put into consideration when selecting tenants so that the wrong types of tenants would not be selected. The tenant in a building determines or adds to the deterioration of the building thus tenants who would not compliment the building should not be selected as they would not use the property well thereby increasing the rate of deterioration of the building. The suitability of the tenant as to the use of the premises has to be considered. The covenant to keep the property in good repair will normally meet the case where the use in appropriate to the premises and involves no exceptional wear or tear. The subletting of a house into multi-occupation, certain retail trades such pet shops; heavy industries are potentially destructive to the fabric of a property. Therefore tenants have to be selected carefully based on their suitability to the use of the premises, and also suitability of the tenant to the location of the property. This would help reduce deterioration of properties, and the emergence of slums. Thus the estate surveyor has to select tenants that would compliments the property and reduce the rate or deterioration and would also maintain the property.
- Unification of separate holdings: Unification of estate means the ownership. Unification help to solve the problem of slums created through fragmentation of estate, which is the breaking down of estate into smaller separate holdings. The role of the estate surveyor in this area cannot be over emphasized. The estate surveyor can raise capital for the unification of estate holdings and undertake re-construction on a piecemeal basis. This process however in quite cumbersome and at times requires some statutory powers to achieve.
- Encourage people: To buy old buildings, help appraise them and refurbish. Estate surveyor could encourage people who was to buy properties or and, buy old dilapidated buildings that have low physical life but high economic life. Such buildings can be brought and refurbished this work help the renewal of the urban center in which the building is located.
- Advise government: to tax relief to those who buy and refurbish old buildings. This is an incentive in aiding urban renewal. This is because a lot of people will buy these old building and refurbish them thereby upgrading the urban area.
- Managing finance for refurbishment programs: the estate surveyor can also source for finance and mange such funds for urban renewal programs. Such funds could be sourced in merchant banks, developmental banks, etc.
- Advising government: on the need for urban renewal programs and helping to implement such programs
References
Bloom, Weimer and Fisher (982). Real estate. Canada: John Wiley and Inc.
Thorncroft, M. (1974). Principle of estate management. London: Estate Gagatte Limited.
Oludore Sangonuga: A lecture note on urban renewal.
Remi Makinde: Urban renewal programme for Nigeria’s urban centers: problems and prospects.
