11:00 July 18, 2003
Milwaukee: "Successful Strategies to Revitalize Cities"

Lightening Up High-Tech—Successful Strategies to Revitalize Cities

By Xinhua News Agency, Washington

Correspondent Weinong Wu

Among the successful cases of revitalizing cities in the United States in 2002, Milwaukee’s “Lightening up High-Tech” project is quite unique. Milwaukee is an old industrial city located in the Midwest. This project demonstrates the crucial role high tech plays in modern city development; it also reflects the changes of a modern American city.

“Lightening Up High-Tech” was launched at the end of 2002. When night falls, about 100 high-tech companies in Milwaukee turn on dark blue, oval-shaped neon lights outside of their office windows. Dark blue represents technology; the shape of the neon lights—an Arabic number “1” standing in the middle of an open circle—symbolizes the internationally recognized voltage standard. The combination of the blue color and an arc signifies the power of technology.

Although this project does not seem very unusual, it reflects the importance of high-tech in revitalizing the city. As a well-known local urban design company puts it, the blue neon lights glistening in the darkness shows how important high-tech is to the city. The goal of the project is to underscore the power of high-tech, so that people will pay more attention to the development of urban Milwaukee.

In an age when cities across the U.S. compete with each other to attract high-tech talents and companies, it is important for them to attract capital and talents to maintain a competitive edge. However, cities like Milwaukee, which is a secondary industrial city, do not have advantages in terms of attracting capital and talents, so they must rely on municipal policies and other related strategies to create a soft environment to attract and keep high-tech companies, enabling the high-tech companies to prosper on a fertile ground. After Milwaukee municipal government and city development bureau noticed the ever-increasing number of high-tech companies in the city, they launched the “Lightening Up High-Tech” project to highlight the power of High-Tech sector in Milwaukee. The municipal government and some companies that help sponsor the project pay for the cost of the blue neon lights and then distribute the lights to the high-tech companies in Milwaukee. This might encourage more high-tech companies to locate in Milwaukee. Meanwhile, some companies that rely on high-tech products for technological renovation have also requested for the blue neon lights. “Lightening Up High-Tech” has become Milwaukee’s great momentum in strengthening and attracting high-tech companies in the urban area.

This project also illustrates the characteristics of how a modern American city plans its urban development: Re-vitalizing the city and returning to urban life. Although the life of 2/3 of Americans is related to the urban areas, the majority of the population does not live in urban areas. Do Americans like country life better than city life? Not necessarily so. In the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, the industrialization of urban areas drove people to live in rural areas. Recent census shows that middle-aged and senior Americans prefer rural life, but the younger generation likes urban life better. What does a city need to attract young people? The urban designers of many medium-sized cities in the U.S., including those in Milwaukee, point out that the development of high-tech companies is an indisputable incentive to attract young people since young people like to work for high-tech companies.

High-Tech is undoubtedly an important momentum for a city to regain its strength and reclaim its charm. The ultimate goal of “Lightening Up High-Tech” project in Milwaukee is to make the city more attractive to people by emphasizing the development of high-tech companies, thus ensuring the prosperity of the city. The urban designers believe that the returning of high-tech companies to the urban area will help the city to develop a faster pace. If the city can attract some high-income residents, city life will become more attractive to young people because the high income group can boost the business of restaurants, hotels, museums, and recreational and cultural facilities.

Re-vitalizing the urban area has become the priority of many American cities. Milwaukee’s “Lightening Up High-Tech” project not only shows high-tech’s magnetism, but also demonstrates that it is a successful strategy for the city to reclaim its faded glory.