stays is often called "Tent City". Protests Occupy movement is an international protest movement that featured tent cities set up in parks in some cities. Maricopa County Jail modification Prior to the election of Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 1993, the prisoner population in Maricopa County Jail, Arizona, the fourth largest jail system in the world, exceeded the maximum number of inmates allowed in its facilities. Prisoners were routinely released from custody prior to completing their sentence due to the overcrowding. In a study conducted in 1993 it was estimated that construction of a new facility would cost approximately $70,000,000. Sheriff Arpaio, concerned about the cost of a new facility and reasoning that military tents were good enough for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Gulf War, ordered that tent jails be constructed using inmate labor. It consisted of Korean War-era tents donated by the United States armed forces, and a observation tower with a vacancy sign mounted on the front. The final cost of the project was approximately $100,000 and it was capable of housing over 2,400 inmates. Tent City was closed in October 2017. See also List of tent cities in the United States Protest camp Squatting References External links Tent City Urbanism: From Self-Organized Camps to Tiny House Villages by Andrew Heben Seattle University hosting Tent City 3 Temporary Autonomous Shelter (Tent Cities) Research Portal Waaytv.com Cities Tolerate Homeless Camps by Jennifer Levitz, The Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2009 Tent City Forum for homeless people. Tent City Chicago homeless interview Image of workers setting up tents for the homeless in a Tent City across the street from City Hall in Los Angeles, California, 1984. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. Homelessness Temporary populated places