URBAN HOMESTEADING by Hughes, James W.; Bleakly, Kenneth D. Jr - 1975

New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University - The Center for Urban Policy Research, 1975. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. First Edition. 8vo. 276 pp. Green boards lettered in gilt on the spine; headband; illustrated with line drawings. Lightly rubbed on the corners of the dustjacket with some fading around the edges and spine; no interior markings. Urban homesteading was proposed as the modern counterpart to the program which helped settle the western wilderness. People were to settle the abandoned housing in older central cities. Reinforced by the glamour of histoirical analogy, urban homesteading promised the transformation of gutted shells and hostile neighborhoods into pioneering urban colonies through the offering of free claims on vacant housing. The homestead grant was then to develop into a valuable asset through the settler's own initiative, drive and sweat. That was the idea. The Contents are: Preface by George Sternlieb; Introduction: The Realities Set In; Abandonment; Homesteading: The Working Concept; The Policy Context; The Organizatyional Scheme. Section One: Urban Homesteading: A Historical Perspective and Policy Concept. Section Two: Urban Homesteading: Operational Realities. Section Three: Program Synthesis and Evaluation. Appendices: A: Abandonment: Operational Definition and Monitoring System; B: A Cost Revenue Methodology; C: Summary Matrix of Homesteading Programs; and D: Examples of Relevant Ordinance and Agreements..