Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan both came to this spot in South Bronx during their political careers to make promises. Urban decay is a process by which a city, or a part of a city, falls into a state of disrepair. It is characterized by depopulation, economic restructuring, property abandonment, high unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement, crime, and desolate and unfriendly urban landscapes. Urban decay was associated with Western cities, especially North America and parts of Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. During this time period, major changes in global economies, transportation, and government policies created conditions that fostered urban decay.[1] The effects of urban decay run counter to the development patterns found in most cities in Europe and countries outside of North America, where slums are usually located on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas while the city center and inner city retain high real estate values and a steady or increasing population. In contrast, North American cities often experienced an outflux of population to city suburbs or exurbs, as in the case of white flight.[2] This trend has started to reverse in some cities, where affluent parts of the population have moved back into erstwhile blighted areas (see gentrification). There is no single cause of urban decay, though it may be triggered by a combination of interrelated factors, including urban planning decisions, poverty, the development of freeways and railway lines,[3] suburbanisation, redlining,[4] immigration restrictions,[5] and racial discrimination.