President Truman’s American Housing Act of 1949 empowered cities to replace blighted structures with safe public housing, and soon was altered to allow the rezoning of cleared areas for commercial development. Along with legislation to expand the nation’s interstate highway system, it gave Kansas City leaders the tools to forever change the city’s landscape.

But was that redevelopment mishandled? The question, and thus the legacy of urban renewal, remains far from settled. In conjunction with a new Library exhibition, Missouri Valley Special Collections librarian Michael Wells discusses urban renewal in Kansas City, its “creative” uses by developers, and the lasting effects on the built environment and populace.

Wells researched and curated the exhibit, City of Tomorrow: Kansas City’s Postwar Urban Renewal, opening at the Central Library on September 10.