Urban deprivation refers to a situation in which a member of society is unable to interact with their community in the ‘normal’ way, and it involves hardships and lack of access to resources. It is a difficult term to define and measure, but most deprivation measures look at a ‘basket’ of things that would affect a person’s overall ability to participate in society at the same level as the majority of other people. Urban deprivation is often worse in urban areas compared to rural areas because of the cumulative causation of the cycle of deprivation, which creates pockets of extreme deprivation among the otherwise socially connected city.

Urban decay, on the other hand, is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. It is often the result of inter-related socio-economic issues, including urban planning decisions, economic deprivation of the local populace, the construction of freeways and railroad lines that bypass or run through the area, depopulation by suburbanization of peripheral lands, real estate neighborhood redlining, and immigration restrictions. The main responses to urban decay have been through positive public intervention and policy, through a plethora of initiatives, funding streams, and agencies, using the principles of New Urbanism (or through Urban Renaissance, its UK/European equivalent). Gentrification has also had a significant effect, and remains the primary means of a natural remedy.