Eminent Domain and Redevelopment

Critics of redevelopment say there's an inherent conflict in a partnership between a governmental agency and a private developer. However, California officials say redevelopment remains a valuable tool to combat blight and breathe economic vitality into rundown, decaying neighborhoods.

The concept of eminent domain - also known as condemnation - started off as the government's right to take private property for public use. Public-use projects include schools, highways and courthouses.

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution stipulates that governments pay "just compensation" to land owners.

But in the years following World War II, courts changed the requirement of "public use" to one of "public purpose," and local and state governments began condemning slums in the interest of eliminating blight. "

Thanks to g edward freeman