Historic Preservation and Urban Housing Policy

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Historic preservation is broadly concerned with maintaining the visible presence of history in our lives through a concerted effort to preserve culturally significant aspects of the built environment. Through their diversity of form and function, older buildings and areas provide continuity between the past and the present, contribute to the development of an aesthetic townscape, and evoke a sense of pleasantness and amenity. Such design considerations have traditionally had little relationship to the development of housing policy. Under the impact of a new emphasis on neighborhood conservation, this situation is rapidly changing. A realization that the built environment is a valuable asset must include an awareness of the design features and aesthetic value of the existing housing stock. In particular, housing strategists should recognize that areas of historic and architectural quality may appeal to certain portions of the housing market. Historic preservation can play an important role in achieving the objectives of a local housing policy which stresses neighborhood revitalization. This article suggests the growing importance of preservation as a housing strategy and illustrates how preservation in one North Carolina city, Wilmington, has helped to stimulate public investment and revitalization in the central city.

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