The changing demography of the central city

A term that has been applied to describe what has happened too many metropolitan areas of the U.S. since World War II is "doughnut complex." In many places the hole in the doughnut is a decaying central city and the ring is a prosperous and growing suburban and exurban region. In a few major municipalities such as New York the hole is a core area of the city that is being revitalized and the ring is a surrounding part of the city that is becoming increasingly blighted; the central-city doughnut is surrounded by the usual prosperous suburban area. The question of what to do about the decay of central cities or major parts of them has occupied the attention of local state and Federal officials and of specialists in urban planning. Policies such as urban renewal subsidized housing and aid to mass transit have been tried to a limited degree and with limited success. Some observers see "gentrification" and the possibility of chronic gasoline shortages as forces that might revivify the central cities. Gentrification is the refurbishing of central-city neighborhoods such as Brooklyn Heights in New York and Georgetown in Washington by people who are well educated and well-to-do. It certainly has affected parts of some cities but the statistics show that it is a minuscule trend compared with the other forces affecting cities. Whether severe and chronic gasoline shortages would impel a large back-to-the-city movement remains to be seen although in a strongly automobile-oriented society other alternatives seem likelier. Our purpose here is to examine the statistics that reflect the position of the cities and to consider what might be done about the doughnut-complex phenomenon. (excerpt)