OF MICHIGAN

MAR 1905
4

MAIN

READING ROOM

URBAN RESEARCH

UNDER FEDERAL AUSPICES

A SURVEY

PREPARED FOR THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON

INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE

BY THE

BUREAU OF THE BUDGET

APRIL 15, 1964

Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Operations

31-820

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON: 1964

PURCHASED THROUGH
DOC. EX. PROJECT

FOREWORD

Pursuant to its responsibilities as authorized under Senate Resolution 359, 87th Congress, "to examine, investigate and make a complete study of intergovernmental relationships between the United States and the States and municipalities", the Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations of the Committee on Government Operations in January 1963 requested the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to provide information on urban research currently conducted under Federal auspices.

This is a much-needed study. At no point in the structure of our federal system are the problems of intergovernmental relations so marked, varied and difficult as in our urban areas where the activities of all three levels of government function in close proximity. Federal programs of assistance to these urban areas have increased at a considerable rate in recent years. At the same time, there has been a general recognition of the need for better understanding of urban growth and development. Such better understanding of the complex phenomenon of urbanization can benefit the Federal Government both in dollar savings and in the achievement of national goals reflected in Federal legislation.

The report of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget is contained herein. To our knowledge this report is the first effort on the part of the Federal Government to analyze the nature and extent of urban research currently carried on by the Federal Government. The report is based on a survey by the Bureau of the Budget of all Federal departments and agencies designed to supply the following information requested in our letter to the Director:

1. A listing of Federal research activities on the subject of urban development and urban problems;

2. A description of present methods and procedures for coordinating these urban research activities; and

3. Recommendations for possibly improving present coordinating machinery for federally sponsored urban research.

The implications of the report are disquieting. First, despite the importance of better understanding the problems of urban growth and social and economic well-being, urban research, however defined, appears to constitute only a very small fraction of all research carried on under Federal sponsorship. The survey findings clearly indicate that urban problems are not yet considered a subject to be studied and researched on the same basis as such well-supported Federal research areas as agriculture, water, oceanography and meteorology.

Second, there seems to be a general lack of balance of urban research among the many Federal agencies administering programs affecting urban development. The air pollution control and highway programs account for nearly 50 percent of reported federally sponsored urban research costs, and the Housing and Home Finance Agency another 25 percent.