All eyes are on Milwaukee this week as they host the Republican National Convention (RNC). Later this summer focus will shift to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. High-profile political meetings and city clean-up initiatives often coincide. Cities direct significant resources to reduce blight, beautify urban decay, and remove illegal dumping. While security infrastructure is often considered separate from ‘clean up’ initiatives, the relationship between urban decay, blight, and crime is well recognized.
There is a lot of research on mega-events such as the Olympics and other sports events. However, sports events are not the only catalysts that bring attention to urban decay and blight. High-profile political meetings and city clean-up initiatives often go hand-in-hand. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco in mid-November 2023 spotlighted the urban landscape and the targeted cleanup efforts. As the RNC heads to Milwaukee, named the 2023 “cleanest city in America,” we evaluate political meetings & city clean-up initiatives in the context of travel and tourism.
Internal & External Drivers of City Clean-Up Initiatives
There are many reasons to reduce blight, eliminate urban decay, and beautify a city. Some reasons include:
- Repurpose or redevelop vacant lots
- Prepare for a big event
- Improve health outcomes related to the quality of living
- Increase environmental resilience
- Respond to a disaster or catastrophe
- Take advantage of funding opportunities
Each reason is complex and involves many stakeholders and data to identify, prioritize, implement, and monitor. However, stakeholders generally fall into two categories: internal or external to a municipality. An internal stakeholder is a resident, business, or local leader. External stakeholders are visitors and organizations vested in the redevelopment, resilience, or beautification outcomes. As we saw from the press and media coverage of the highly anticipated meeting between US President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping during the APEC Summit in November 2023, political summits, conferences, and meetings spotlight the urban landscape of the host city. San Francisco, the host of the high-profile APEC Summit, is not alone in this type of attention. Cities hosting political gatherings all receive attention regarding their clean-up initiatives.
High-Profile Political Meetings and City Clean-Up Initiatives
Portrayals often depict high-profile political meetings like the RNC and DNC as catalysts for cleaning up the host site’s landscape. Or does it seem that way?
These high-profile political events focus a global spotlight on the host city. The spotlight is not only on the politics but also on the urban context. Urban decay is a persistent issue in many cities. As the eyes of the world turn towards them, the need for comprehensive and sustainable cleanup efforts becomes more apparent.
The Impact of Urban Decay on Perceptions of a Host City
Dilapidated infrastructure, neglected public spaces, encampments of unhoused populations, illegal dumping, and litter characterize urban decay. Blighted and neglected infrastructure tarnishes a city’s image and reflects poorly on its ability to host major political events. A city’s physical appearance can influence the event’s perception, affecting the impressions of attendees, journalists, and global observers. To counteract this negative impact, city officials regularly include proactive citywide cleanup initiatives.
Positive perceptions of the host city can translate into favorable opinions of the political event. This may foster a conducive atmosphere for constructive dialogue and collaboration. Conversely, cities grappling with urban decay may face challenges in projecting a positive image, potentially affecting the efficacy of the political discussion.
Competitive Selection of Host Cities
Officials select host cities for high-profile events months to years before the anticipated event. For example, officials selected San Francisco to host the November 2023 APEC Summit 12 months in advance. The US State Department’s senior official for APEC, Matt Murray, told the San Francisco Chronicle about the competitive process.
Murray stated, “[W]e were looking for the cities around the United States that we thought would be the best backdrops for what we were trying to do at each of the meetings…You want to find the place that you think is the perfect encapsulation of what you’re trying to promote on the policy side.” While Murray did not explicitly discuss urban decay, his focus was still on the urban context. The competitive selection process seemed to revolve around aligning the city’s offerings with the meeting’s agenda.
The selection for other political events, such as the Democratic or Republican National Conventions, is also highly competitive. Chicago won the bid to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Chicago’s selling points in the bid were the following:
- It’s central location with regards to battleground states,
- Union labor advantage,
- And hotel capacity and other logistics considerations.
Similarly, Milwaukee won the bid to host the 2024 Republican National Convention based on the following:
- A united effort by stakeholders to bring the convention to Milwaukee,
- Avid support from the business community,
- And logistical considerations of accommodations and security.
Chicago and Milwaukee started the competitive bid processes over a year before the selections were officially made.
Security Infrastructure & Urban Blight
Organizers expect around 500,000 visitors for both the RNC and DNC. In addition to the usual hype, the recent assassination attempt has increased concerns and security preparation for the events. High-profile political meetings and city clean-up initiatives are closely linked, as urban blight has a widely recognized relationship with crime.1, 2, 3 Milwaukee has two ongoing blight-related programs to reduce the impact of blight on the city, residents and visitors: Raze & Revive and Nuisance Process.
What is Raze & Revive?
“Raze & Revive is Mayor Johnson’s new initiative to address the backlog of blighted buildings in Milwaukee neighborhoods that need to be demolished and, in doing so, increase public safety and quality of life for residents who live near these properties and create new opportunities for housing development.
“As part of Raze and Revive, the Department of Public Works will expand its workforce to focus on the demolition of blighted properties. When at full capacity, the Raze & Revive team will effectively double the City’s demolition capacity. Currently, the number of properties requiring demolition regularly grows at a rate exceeding the City’s demolition capacity, preventing the City from addressing a backlog dating back to the housing crisis in 2008. Under the Raze & Revive initiative, that backlog should be eliminated within five years. After the backlog is eliminated, the City anticipates being able to raze properties requiring demolition within 12 months.” Learn more here.
Milwaukee Nuisance Process
In addition to the Raze & Revive program, Milwaukee also has a dedicated process to handle neighborhood nuisances. Through the Milwaukee Nuisance Process, the city has identified over 25 code violations qualifying as neighborhood nuisances that can be addressed through this program. Milwaukee officials recognize that “[p]roperty where nuisance activity occurs regularly is a blight on the whole neighborhood. The nuisances frighten away law abiding residents, discourage reinvestment, and consume police and other city services. Responsible property owners can and usually do take steps to discourage those that cause such behaviors from occupying their buildings. The Chronic Nuisance Property Code says to property owners, in effect, “If you do not take action to try to stop these nuisances from recurring, then you and not the taxpayers will pay the cost of the police that must respond to your building.” Learn more about the Nuisance Process here.
RNC Security & Blight
Blighted areas can cause complications in the security arrangements for high-profile political events. In March, Congress approved an additional $25 million in security grants for Milwaukee and Chicago. The total estimated security funding for the RNC in Milwaukee is $75 million.
A joint threat assessment created by the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, the Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee Southeastern Wisconsin Threat Analysis Center calls for heightened awareness. As a result, the current security perimeter, shown below, will likely expand.
Named the 2023 “cleanest city in America,” Milwaukee’s streets and infrastructure are pristine, leading up to the RNC this week. Unsurprisingly, the area within the security perimeter shown above has no blight. However, several properties are blighted just a few blocks west of Highway 43. Pin drops on the Urban Blight map below indicate these blighted properties.
Map incidents of blight and debris using City Detect’s cutting-edge technology. Contact us
Political Tourism as a Driver for Development
Milwaukee’s annual Clean & Green clean-up event occurs in April every year. This year, they augmented the April event with a cleanup event in Moody Park.
Hosting major political events often translates into increased tourism and business opportunities, generating revenue for the city. A well-maintained city is more likely to attract visitors. These visitors who attend political events also explore the city and contribute to the local economy. Clean streets and public spaces enhance the overall visitor experience.
Tourism is the 10th largest industry globally and generated $2 trillion in 2022. Naturally, an industry this large attracts substantial academic and regulatory attention. Despite this attention, there is little agreement on even the basic definitions and categories of tourism. For example, the UN World Travel and Tourism Organization includes all professional travel in the “Business Tourism” category. However, in other settings, travel for political purposes is categorized as “group meetings & conference travel.” A 2018 literature review of tourism-related research papers found that well over 400 peer-reviewed articles focus on the relationship between tourism and economic impacts. Yet, despite the emphasis on economic impacts, data on political meeting-related tourism lacks consistency and thorough collection.
Economic Impacts of Political Tourism
Additional examples of the economic impact of political tourism include the following:
- The November 2023 APEC Summit brought an estimated 20,000 visitors from 21 countries to San Francisco and had an estimated economic impact of $53 million.
- The March for Israel in Washington DC on 12 November 2023 attracted an estimated 100,000 visitors from across the US.
- The 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee is estimated to bring 50,000 visitors and $200 million economic impact.
- The 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago is estimated to bring 50,000 visitors and generate $200 million in economic impact.
- Houston, TX is bidding to host the 2028 Republican National Convention, estimating a $230 million impact.
Some researchers suggest the economic impact may be overestimated. (We do find it interesting that the RNC and DNC use the same numbers for their 2024 conventions!) Leveraging a data-driven approach to evaluating & prioritizing urban revitalization projects can help stakeholder alignment leading up to these critical events. The hype around these significant political tourism events is real, as are the cleanup efforts. For example, Milwaukee’s 2024 budget proposal leverages ARPA funds for its Big Clean MKE Program, targeted demolitions, and code enforcement grants.
Looking for funding to clean up your city? Check out our earlier posts on using ARPA funds and other federal grant programs to fund your urban projects.
Conclusion
Tourism, particularly political tourism, emerges as a significant economic driver motivating cities to combat illegal dumping and urban decay. High-profile political meetings and city clean-up initiatives capture global attention. Urban decay’s undeniable impact on a host city emerges during events, shaping global perception and potentially influencing political outcomes. The competitive selection process highlights the urban backdrop, often spurring substantial cleanup investments.
Despite the clear economic benefits of political tourism, academic research on its relationship with urban redevelopment remains limited. A data-driven approach becomes crucial in the broader context of evaluating and prioritizing urban revitalization projects. Technologies like City Detect’s AI-powered, near-realtime data and urban blight reports offer valuable tools for stakeholders to align efforts effectively. Cities vie for major political events, emphasizing that ongoing cleanup is integral to urban planning and development.
- Branas, Charles C., et al. “Citywide Cluster Randomized Trial to Restore Blighted Vacant Land and Its Effects on Violence, Crime, and Fear.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115, no. 12, 2018, pp. 2946-2951, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718503115. ↩︎
- Federico Curci, Federico Masera; Flight from Urban Blight: Lead Poisoning, Crime, and Suburbanization. The Review of Economics and Statistics 2023; doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01323 ↩︎
- Kondo, Michelle C., et al. “Blight abatement of vacant land and crime in New Orleans.” Public Health Reports 133.6 (2018): 650-657. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549187988 ↩︎
