Multiple factors influenced the adoption of urban renewal policies. Both nationally and locally, urban renewal was created out of concern for the marked decline of urban environments. This typically took the form of economic and political disinvestment, including a decline in urban manufacturing and the migration of city residents to suburban areas. City planners and officials, motivated by the desire to attract business to downtown and increase the tax base, viewed urban renewal as a way to revitalize blighted areas. In Atlanta, Mayor William B. Hartsfield sought to use urban renewal and redevelopment to transform the city into one of national significance. Hartsfield promoted downtown urban renewal to improve the city’s central business district and address the issues of poverty and slum housing. Proponents of urban renewal in Atlanta often found themselves with conflicting goals. Groups of white business owners such as the Central Atlanta Improvement Association and the Uptown Association lobbied for the removal of Black housing from downtown, while some housing advocates and neighborhood associations sought to use urban renewal to preserve existing neighborhoods while increasing the availability of low-income housing.

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