de-developed

[Odessa Dawn]

Gaza has the look of a typical third world society, with pockets of wealth surrounded by hideous poverty. It is not, however, “undeveloped.” Rather it is “de-developed,” and very systematically so, to borrow the terms of Sara Roy, the leading academic specialist on Gaza. The Gaza Strip could have become a prosperous Mediterranean region, with rich agriculture and a flourishing fishing industry, marvelous beaches and, as discovered a decade ago, good prospects for extensive natural gas supplies within its territorial waters.
More: Noam Chomsky: Israel's systematic degradation of the Palestinian people

Does the prefix de- that precedes developed mean down?

[SoothingDave]

An "undeveloped" area has never had any development.

A "de-developed" area was once developed, but development has stopped and reversed.