Final answer:
Urban renewal refers to the process of redeveloping urban areas, commonly associated with civic efforts to revitalize cities through construction projects. These projects can lead to controversial use of eminent domain and displacement of residents. Gentrification often follows urban renewal and involves higher-income residents moving into an area, dramatically altering its socioeconomic landscape.
Step-by-step explanation:
We can refer to "Urban Renewal" as the more general process of redeveloping urban areas. Urban renewal is a series of civic efforts aimed at revitalizing urban landscapes, often marked by construction projects that transform city environments. These plans have been subject to controversy due to issues involving eminent domain, where a municipality may claim privately owned land for public use, typically compensating the landowners, but often not providing for renters who are displaced.
Downtown areas undergo changes through urban renewal projects that may include the removal of blighted structures, such as empty factories, and the creation of public works. Sometimes, it was simply termed as slum clearance. Unfortunately, the outcomes of urban renewal frequently bore witness to the displacement of residents—predominantly poor and minority groups—into inadequate public housing or further into poverty, exacerbating the very issues they were intended to solve.
Gentrification is a related but distinct process that occurs when a neighborhood experiences an influx of higher-income residents, altering its social character and often displacing lower-income residents. In essence, it can be a byproduct of urban renewal, reflecting the ongoing evolution and challenges of city development.