Private Property Rights And Public Use: Finding The Balance

"...there isn't much you can do once city officials decide to wield eminent domain, which allows governments to forcibly buy private land and redevelop it for public purposes...The concept of eminent domain has pitted property owners against local authorities since kings ruled in the Middle Ages. In its modern context, government routinely takes private property for public use such as highways and prisons, but the intent has turned more commercial over the years."