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2.0 Methodology and Standards This Bhghting Study was designed and conducted to comply with the specific requirements of the Statute. The study and field work were performed during the month of December, 2000. The Statute defines "blighted area" as follows: an area which, by reason of the predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, insanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site improvements, improper subdivision or obsolete platting, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors, retards the provision of housing accommodations or constitutes an economic or social liability or a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its present condition and use. Section 99.320(31 RSMo. The above definition is not confined merely to the notion of "slum clearance," but rather, incorporates the notion of "economic obsolescence" as well. In Tierney v. Planned Indus. Authority of Kansas City, 742 S.W.2d 146, 151 (Mo. bane 1987), the Supreme Court of Missouri found that Chapter 100 RSMo, having a nearly identical definition of "blight" as does the Statute in Chapter 99 RSMo, extends to economic obsolescence: The owners, finally, attack the concept of "economic undemtilization*' as a basis for condemnation. They suggest that almost all land could be put to a higher and better use, and argue that the concept of economic underutilization is so broad as to confer upon the legislative authority and PIEA the unlimited discretion to take one person's property for the benefit of another, contrary to Mo. Const., Art. I, Sec. 28. We do not find the fault or the danger perceived. The concept of urban redevelopment has gone far beyond "slum clearance," and the concept of economic underuffiization is a valid one. This is explicit in State ex rel. Atkinson v. Planned Industrial Expansion Authority of St. Louis, 517 S.W.2d 36 (Mo. banc 1975), sustaining the statutes governing this case. Centrally located urban land is scarce. The problems of assembling tracts of sufficient size to attract developers, and of clearing uneconomic structures, are substantial and serious. The willingness of the owners to sell is not controlling. We need not repeat all of the evidence which was before the city council tending to show that redevelopment of this area could promote a higher level of economic activity, increased employment, and greater services to the pubhc. 4 1527131