Life and Death of Urban Highways

This report, “The Life and Death of Urban Highways,” re-appraises the specific conditions under which it makes sense to build urban highways and when it makes sense to tear them down. After decades of building and maintaining urban highways, many cities are choosing to tear them down rather than repair or maintain them. Five such cities are examined in this report: Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Seoul, South Korea; and Bogotá, Colombia. These cases demonstrate the social, economic, and environmental benefits that accrued when urban highways were removed and reconsidered.