It would not surprise me if the local government and developers use the tactic of declaring older/built out areas as blighted. This can lead to the government using eminent domain powers to make owners sell out and the developer move in. But wait, there’s more. Then the developer asks for tax breaks because they will be improving a blighted area. Usually such agreements involve something like promises of jobs for locals or donation of parkland or infrastructure improvements. Still the developer and the local government comes out ahead.
That happened near me when a developer bought a huge parcel of land to build a data warehouse. They promised a park across the street from the neighborhood that was there. They did build a lovely park with a walking trail and sprinkled fitness areas along the trail, plus covered picnic benches. Of course, then they built a tall, spiked fence around it so no one from the community can access it. As a result, it is never used.