Complex sentence: The evictions were first ordered by the city's municipal government as part of a massive reconstruction effort aimed at increasing the appeal of the downtown metropolis; since then, the number of housing complexes being forcibly vacated has increased substantially.
Split into simpler sentences: The evictions were first ordered by the city's municipal government as part of a massive reconstruction effort aimed at increasing the appeal of the downtown metropolis. Since then, the number of housing complexes being forcibly vacated has increased substantially.