BACKGROUND:
PUBLIC HOUSING REDEVELOPMENT: THE REDEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC HOUSING OF CHICAGO HAS BEEN OF DEBATE FOR MANY YEARS WITH MULTIPLE REDEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS USED. THE CURRENT REDEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, HOPE VI, ‘AIMS TO TRANSFORM THE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL SHAPE OF PUBLIC HOUSING TO REDUCE THE ALLEGED NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF CONCENTRATED POVERTY’1 THROUGH THE DEMOLITION OF HIGH DENSITY RESIDENCES THAT WERE OF A DEPLORABLE NATURE. THIS STRATEGY WAS DESIGN TO MAKE-UP FOR PREVIOUS MISTAKES OF RACIAL SEGREGATION AND CONCENTRATION OF ECONOMIC POVERTY IN AREAS OF THE CITY. HOWEVER, IN DOING CREATED ANOTHER SET OF COMPLEX SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES FOR THE DISADVANTAGED. MANY OF THE FAMILIES THAT ARE REQUIRED TO MOVE DUE TO REDEVELOPMENT FIND THEMSELVES IN FOREIGN NEIGHBOURHOODS OF THE CITY. IT IS PUT FORWARD THAT ‘DETACHMENT FROM FAMILIAR SOCIAL NETWORKS NOT ONLY CUTS OFF DIRECT SOURCES OF SUPPORT, BUT ALSO DISTURBS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COMFORT OF KNOWING THAT THE SUPPORT IS THERE.’2 THIS PUTS GREAT EMPHASIS ON THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT TO PROVIDE FACILITIES THAT PROMOTE POSITIVE SOCIAL INTERACTION WITH OTHERS LEADING TO A GREATER SENSE OF COMMUNITY. THESE ISSUES OF DISPLACEMENT AND LOST SENSE OF COMMUNITY WITHIN PUBLIC HOUSING OF CHICAGO ARE THE DRIVING REASON FOR THE PROPOSED INTEGRATION OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT WITHIN THE PROGRAMME.
(MAX HERMAN/CITY, 2000)
1. OAKLEY, D & BURCHFIELD, K 2009, ‘OUT OF THE PROJECTS, STILL IN THE HOOD: THE SPATIAL CONSTRAINTS ON PUBLIC-HOUSING RESIDENTS’ RELOCATION IN CHICAGO’, JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, VOL. 31, NO. 5, P.590 2. THOMPSON, M 2006, ‘RELOCATING FROM THE DISTRESS OF CHICAGO PUBLIC HOUSING TO THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE PRIVATE MARKET: HOW THE MOVE THREATENS TO PUSH FAMILIES AWAY FROM OPPORTUNITY’, NORTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF LAW & SOCIAL POLICY, VOL. 1, NO. 1, P.284