Final answer:
Elite downtown landowners wanted slums and ghettos cleaned up and their interests protected. In the 1970s, gentrification occurred in many American cities, displacing poor and minority residents. Urban renewal efforts often resulted in displacement and the creation of empty lots.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subject of this question is Social Studies. The question is asking about the motivations of elite downtown landowners in wanting slums and ghettos cleaned up and their interests protected.
In the 1970s, a new phenomenon called gentrification occurred in many American cities, where property values in older neighborhoods near urban centers had declined. Investors purchased these neighborhoods, evicted tenants, and renovated buildings to attract young urban professionals, displacing racial and ethnic majorities in the process. Municipal governments embraced gentrification to rebuild crumbling tax bases. However, gentrification also led to the displacement of poor and minority residents.
Urban renewal efforts under programs like Urban Renewal often resulted in the demolition of slums and the creation of new housing. However, these efforts were plagued with poor planning and corruption. Many residents, mainly poor and minority, were displaced and forced into overcrowded and poorly built public housing projects. Urban renewal also led to the destruction of neighborhoods and the creation of empty lots.