This year, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion at the ‘South by Southwest Conference and Festival – SXSW’ titled “The Transformation of Nightlife for a Sustainable Tomorrow” – how exciting!¹

But besides this exciting opportunity, besides the fact of being able to travel to Austin, to meeting interesting people and to talking on a panel; over the past years the topic grew closely to my heart.

I genuinely believe, that linking the environmental transition a lot of cities worldwide pursue, with culture and nightlife could benefit both worlds drastically. And guess what – I’m not alone!²

Good panel, good Conference, good mood – let’s go :)!

But let’s go step by step – how did this all start?

Back in the days in 2022, when I started working at Fraunhofer IAO, I took over a project called the Nighttime Innovation Network from my predecessor Jennifer: A series of workshops aimed at resolving conflicts between different interest groups in urban nights. Participants included artists, representatives of nighttime advocacy groups, public authorities (public order office), police, firefighters, security personnel, club and bar owners, and city officials, including Stuttgart’s first Night Mayor.

Due to former engagements as waiter, bartender and kitchen helper several local venues, and due to some of my volunteering activities, I had hands-on experience on how nightculture can look like from both ends. And the issues that may come with it. Now in this workshop, even my city’s first Night Mayor participated. All was pretty exciting for me!

The workshops (all online due to Covid-aftermath) followed a consistent structure: Intro done by Hendrik Meier from Vibelab³ and me, then breakout sessions in different groups, then discussion in big group. Then Hendrik and me synthesising the findings on paper.

Over time and over multiple workshop sessions together we went through identifying overarching themes and subtopics. To then be able to identify related challenges and possible solutions⁴. This process yielded a long list of possible ways forward, from which we compiled a more general and concise version in the form of policy recommendations. I could present the findings at the about pop conference on night-culture and we received a positive feedback⁵.

However, one thing stayed with me — during the discussions, also the one during the conference, it was challenging to keep myself and everyone else ‘on track’. We were constantly tempted to switch between different layers of the problem — switching seamlessly talking about individual and specific examples to the ‘bigger picture’ and general implications – back and forth. Localised and individual best-practice examples and overall policy implications were being discussed at the same time. Nevertheless, we managed it and the outcome was useful and well-received! In hindsight this experience proved to be very insightful for me.

The project finished, and sadly, no follow-up funding was secured, so in my working days the Nighttime Innovation Network was naturally replaced with other projects. But I still thought about the topic. I began reading mostly on nocturnal insects and their relationship to light ⁶ and I could get hold of the newly published book Managing Cities at Night: A Practitioner Guide (see p. 110 for explicit mention and call for action sustainability-nighttime; throughout the book only minor role)⁷.

At NOEK conference – talking about how the night is hiding in plain sight

A nocturnal Aha-Moment

It wasn’t until 2023 that I was invited to speak on a panel titled ‘The Night – The Forgotten Time in City Development’ at the NOEK Conference in Mannheim⁸. Just by reading the title, it clicked. I saw what I did not see before: All the projects I was involved with at Fraunhofer dealt with cities, and all the frameworks and initiatives within them dealt with cities, yet none of them touched on the topic of the night.

My thinking went like this:

• “Aha… day and night are roughly equal in duration, yet our projects primarily focus on daytime…”⁹
• “Hmmm, but we had the Innovation Network that happened for the night…. Wait a second… funding ran out and everybody went their way. Inside my other projects I am not asked about the topic…
• It came to me that during the Nighttime Innovation Lab, there was the exclusive participation of socioeconomic actors, without the ecological or environmental view present. The topics are covered only in parallel – either the ecological/sustainable city’s perspective or the nocturnal-socioeconomics side..¹⁰”
• All the discussions I had with colleagues and friends on the topic came back to me, wow!
• And attending NOEK reinforced my understanding, how common this theme is

Morgenstadt Twilight Innovations – Moving forward and trying to find a way

Happy times at SXSW, Photo shot by Andrea Escobar

In the aftermath of this conference I intensified my reading with the texts by Kevin J. Gaston, Vibelab and Jordi Nofre.

And then – it was all magic – I reached out to Lutz and to Jordi, I enthusiastically travelled to SXSW, met many like-minded people, and experienced many new ‘click’ moments. One statement from the panel by Lutz resonated with me: That due to rising temperatures, urban life will likely shift towards the evening and night, making the topic ever more crucial to address.¹¹

I thought to myself: “Well – how more important can it all get?!”

As 2024 goes on, with the help of my supervisors we could set-up a consortium on green soundproofing and start with the development of the ‘Industry Network -Smart City @ Night-‘. Several other ideas are in the pipeline and I’d be so happy to share and possibly get -you, reading this text- on board :).

I will continue with the concepts we came up with in my next blog post – Thanks for reading; btw – this is my first blogpost, yay!

1. Thanks to my sponsors allowing me to participate at SXSW – Lutz and Vibelab for the invitation and the ongoing inspiring discussions. And to The German Center for Research and Innovation New York for the financial support. See also description of our panel. ↩
2. First and foremost Lutz from Vibelab. As well Jordi Nofre who replied my mails and took time talking to me. Jordi’s research helped me a lot in understanding the topic better. E.g.: “The Urban Ecological Transition and the Future of Europe’s Nightlife Industry” (2023),doi: 10.1080/16078055.2022.2162112; Side note: I couldn’t find Jordi’s Article on Sci-hub.That’s why I reached out to him and that’s why we are in touch until today. Sometimes barriers can create connections :)…. Also Kevin J. Gaston’s work helped me very much, e.g.: “The Nocturnal Problem Revisited” (2019), doi: 10.1086/702250 and “Anthropogenic Changes to the Nighttime Environment” (2023), doi: 10.1093/biosci/biad017; ↩
3. Hendrik was Germany’s first publicly elected night-mayor. He was working in the city of Mannheim. A nice place. At the time of the workshop he was affiliated with Vibelab. ↩
4. See the slides. ↩
5. about pop conference and festival Stuttgart. A special thank-you to Stuttgart’s first night mayor Nils Runge for saving us a spot in the agenda for our discussions. ↩
6. See this recent paper: Fabian, S.T., Sondhi, Y., Allen, P.E. et al. Why flying insects gather at artificial light. Nat Commun 15, 689 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44785-3. ↩
7. Book, released just in the right time for me: Acuto, Michele, et al. Managing Cities at Night: A Practitioner Guide to the Urban Governance of the Night-Time Economy. 1st ed., Bristol University Press, 2022. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv22jnkcq. (see p. 110 for explicit mention and call for action sustainability-nighttime; throughout the book only minor role) ↩
8. By happy coincidence – initially my supervisor was invited to go but hat a conflicting event. Link to NOEK Conference Mannheim. ↩
9. Writing this makes me feel kinda silly – this is all so obvious, right?! ↩
10. please note: This is simplified and reflecting my personal journey. I am trying to target the bigger picture with my argument and I do not want to discredit initiatives that already move in this and in bridging both worlds. What I personally observed is that in this context, topics related to sustainability are often approached from the cultural/societal sphere’s vision and concept, not as someone from the ecological or city-development sphere might frame them. This goes vice-versa. I vividly remember a discussion between an lighting-experienced ecologist and a cultural/societal night-time advocate, where finding common ground was extremely difficult. ↩
11. You can already see this happening in the real world. See an article from September 9, 2023 in the Washington Post – “Extreme heat is forcing America’s farmers to go nocturnal”(paywall). ↩

The post My personal Night-Shift: Finding Out about the Importance of a Topic appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

Who owns the night? Cross-sector collaborators unite to address this fundamental question in Stockholm

“It is of great value to build a strong foundation for entrepreneurs and business opportunities together with Stockholm nightlife, property owners and the City Administration.” – 

 Mayor Anna König Jerlmyr talks about Creative Footprint in Stockholm

What is Creative Footprint Stockholm?

Creative Footprint (CFP) is a research project by nighttime consultancy agency VibeLab that researches creative spaces and communities to study the cultural value and impact of music and nightlife in the city. It has previously been conducted in Berlin (2017), New York (2018), and Tokyo (2019).

Creative Footprint Stockholm was conducted in 2021 on behalf of Stockholm’s Stad (the City of Stockholm), Fastighetsägarna Stockholm, and Atrium Ljungberg to address the current state of the Swedish capital’s nightlife. As Stockholms Stad prepares to implement its first nightlife strategy, this report aims to empower both the city’s administration and the wider range of actors and stakeholders operating in Stockholm’s music and nightlife scenes.

What the report contains

This report documents the findings of qualitative and quantitative research conducted in the summer and autumn of 2021. Creative Footprint’s signature analysis methodology is based on over 5,000 data points relating to Stockholm’s approximately 102 music and nightlife venues and the input of 50+ stakeholders gathered in 3 focus groups and 11 in-depth interviews.

Like other CFP reports, these results are calculated in an overall “city score,” provided alongside further analysis of the economic and spatial patterns of Stockholm’s creative spaces. In comparison to other CFP cities, Stockholm’s overall score is similar to Tokyo’s and lower than both New York and Berlin. And in all four cities, similar patterns have been observed: venue density correlates positively with factors such as density of transit, the density of young adults in a particular area, and rental costs, while areas with high rental costs tend to display lower levels of artistic experimentation.

Scores and analysis are divided into three focal areas of Space, Framework Conditions, and Community and Content. Stockholm’s higher Space score is balanced by comparatively lower scores for Community and Content and Framework Conditions, suggesting both assets and challenges in the city. Research participants celebrated the city’s energy and diversity, and the potential for a vibrant and sustainable nightlife scene. But clear barriers to a vibrant nightlife were also identified, including high operating costs, a restrictive licensing and permitting climate, systemic forms of social exclusion, and an imbalanced “venue ladder” that limits opportunities for early-career artists, promoters, and would-be venue operators.

This report also includes a set of recommendations focused on two areas: relationship and capacity building between nightlife stakeholders, and a pilot program approach for innovative nightlife spaces and policies in Stockholm. These recommendations are based upon both detailed analysis and good practice from the other nightlife cities profiled here. These strategic steps can both strengthen the city’s nightlife and its broader agenda toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in support of a future Stockholm model of economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable nightlife.

Who has the right to Stockholm’s nightlife: High operating costs and stringent licensing and permitting for Stockholm’s nightlife spaces are stifling creativity, its progression and development for existing and would-be nightlife operators.

It comes as no surprise that Stockholm’s high cost of living burdens existing and would-be nightlife operators from running and starting new music and nightlife spaces and/or events. Prohibitive operating costs (including but not limited to rent, permits, and mandated staffing such as Ordningsvakter) are a cross-cutting theme: it impacts what spaces can exist in Stockholm, the types of content they program and the communities or audiences they reach out to.

High costs of operation have major implications:

• It discourages young would-be venue operators from starting venues
• It limits current venue operators’ diversity of programming and audience
• Event-goers of varied financial situations don’t see the nightlife in the central parts of Stockholm  as “for them”
• At its extreme, only large chains or restaurant groups can afford to operate, leading to a continued “routinisation”, homogenisation and gentrification of nightlife and culture.

In addition to the high operating costs, Stockholm Municipality’s (and broader national-level) stringent and disparate licensing and permitting arrangements further complicate, and burden existing and would-be nightlife operators from running nightlife spaces, events and/or opening up new nightlife spaces in the city. The negative impacts of stringent licensing and permitting regulations were one of the greatest concerns raised by promoters, organisers, and others in the Creative Footprint study. The cumulative impact of restrictions—the required full kitchen for alcohol permits, stringent alcohol licensing, limited operating hours, Ordningsvakter [door security staff] and Danstillståndet [dancefloor permit]—were described as a significant cost and operations burden. 

Taking a step back, it is important to underscore that these combined factors raise the fundamental question: who has the right to Stockholm’s nightlife? Should Stockholm’s nightlife scenes only privilege those who can and those who have the social and economic means to operate nightlife spaces in the city? Going forward, post-COVID-19, Stockholm has the opportunity to remedy the amplified social and economic barriers identified in Creative Footprint’s study that currently prevent those who are unable to break through into the city’s nightlife scenes—especially grassroots operators.

Read more here

Download the report here

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On the 25th of November 2021, Vibelab will be producing a panel talk on Nighttime Recovery and Resilience and a Global Night Ambassadors lab at Stad Nach Acht in Berlin Germany.

About Stadt Nach Acht:

STADT NACH ACHT – the most important international conference on nightlife – presents a concentrated program spanning three days in November in Berlin.

More than 200 experts from over 30 nations combine their knowledge from the fields of culture, urban development, health & safety and economics in over 60 panels and 6 parallel strands at the Berlin conference. Numerous representatives from politics and administration also discuss possible development paths for the nocturnal city of tomorrow with the participants. What challenges do cities and their peripheries face in offering their 24-hour societies, especially at night, lovable and livable, low-conflict and future-oriented conditions?

About the panel:

• On November 25th at 14:00, Vibelab will be presenting a panel on Nighttime Recovery & Resilience.
  
  Joined by contributors to the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan:
  
• Tara Duvier (Ch4: Sustaining our nightlife scenes)
• Nandor Petrovics (Ch5: Nighttime Governance in Times of Covid)
• Andreina Seijas (Content Manager)
• Riccardo Ramello (Ch2: The Future of Dancefloors)
• Juma Assiago Coordinator of the UN-Habitat Global Safer Cities Programme
• Moderated by Lutz Leichsenring.

Cultural, community, and economic activity at night is essential to a city’s vibrancy and productivity, and supports numerous local and international industries. But the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown night-time economies and cultures into uncertainty around the globe. In many cities, clubs, venues and other gathering spaces will likely be the last to re-open, making night-time cultural economies highly vulnerable. 

Global Night Ambassadors Lab

We will also be hosting a global night ambassadors lab session that discusses:
Which type of ambassadors are existing (Alexander Bücheli)
A Night-Culture Manifesto (Lutz Leichsenring)The language of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to talk to politicians and decisions makers (Diana Raiselis)

There will be night ambassadors and activists from: Antwerpen, Barcelona, Berlin, Chêne-Bougeries, Eindhoven, Groningen, Innsbruck, Leipzig, Les Acacias, Madrid, Mannheim, Montreal, Munich, Nairobi, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Zurich and more.

 The Lab is open to all SN8 Participants, but availability is limited so we ask you to register in advance here

As we begin to shift from lockdown to re-openings, we must re-envision how urban systems can coexist with the ongoing threat of COVID-19 — and those systems must extend into the night. That’s what VibeLab will do at this year’s edition of our conference together with numerous researchers and urban planners from around the globe.

➡️ Join the discussion by getting your tickets: https://cutt.ly/kEl7Udq

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Enlightened: Planning and Designing Public Spaces for the Night

“Design all the public spaces you want for daylight but, once the sun sets, different opportunities come out to play. Fortunately, a new field of expertise has emerged for placemaking at night. A city’s nighttime economic vitality, culture, public health and — of course — safety can be enhanced by how public spaces are designed and how light is shaped.

On Tuesday, March 9, 24HourDallas hosts two internationally respected experts in light, art, and placemaking at night. Join us for this free, one-hour Zoominar as we illuminate what it could mean to better fuse art, light, and urban design into public spaces at night … in Dallas.”

PANELISTS
• Leni Schwendinger — NightSeeing™ (http://www.nightseeing.net/); Light Projects LTD (http://www.lightprojectsltd.com); International Nighttime Design Initiative (https://nighttimedesign.org/)
• Joshua King — Dallas AURORA (https://dallasaurora.com/)

GUEST HOST
• Bryan Tony — Placemaking Chair, 24HourDallas

HOST
• Randall White — Board President, 24HourDallas

CO-SPONSOR
• Architectural Lighting Alliance (https://www.alatx.com/)

BECOME A MEMBER OF 24HOURDALLAS
Let’s create a safe, vibrant, and diverse nighttime culture in Dallas for businesses, residents, and guests. The nighttime is for everyone. Join at 24hourdallas.org

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If you missed our Meet the Authors call for the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan Chapter 3: Innovating for 24-hour cities, you can catch some of the key takeaways below.

Download the full chapter here.

Introductory remarks 

Michael Fichman (PennPraxis/University of Pennsylvania), GNRP editor and coordinator 

Alistair Turnham (MAKE Associates), chapter 3 co-lead

• Nighttime culture doesn’t exist in isolation. We must look at all intersecting fields and services to develop a holistic plan for cities at night.

• During this pandemic we can utilise 24 hour time to create more space

• The chapter’s ideas are relevant now, but should also be applied in the long term, to create more resilient and dynamic cities.

“Light is the glue of the night”

– Leni Schwendinger (International Nighttime Design Initiative), Co-led the research and management the Global Nightime Recovery Plan’s third chapter.

• “We think of the night as a time, but actually the night is a place. It’s a canvas for us to design. 

• In doing so we must consider those of us who must be out at night – night workers or essential workers – as well as those who choose to go to the night for inspiration.

• Light is the glue of the night. It creates legible pathways and destinations, and must be integrated into all areas of urban design.

• Light can be used as malleable infrastructure, a flexible medium which can attract, create focus areas, and establish boundaries or separation – something especially necessary during Covid. 

• Light is an infrastructure of modernisation, and as such not available everywhere. Chapter looks at Lagos, Nigeria as a case study. Who has their world lit and who doesn’t? And for what purpose – safety, entertainment or function?”

Carlos F Pardo (New Urban Mobility Alliance), contributor to the third chapter.

• “In cities all over the world the first transport services that were cut when the pandemic hit were the night services.

• Night workers rely heavily on public transport. They cannot change when they travel or simply choose not to. They need a transport service they can trust to get them somewhere safely and on time, otherwise they could be mugged, killed, or lose their employment.

• Then there are those who travel at night by choice, and cities must also cater for their trips.  

• Most cities are not designed for either of these transport users. Transport is traditionally planned around the work schedule of a fully-abled 35 year old male of middle income.”

“Less enforcement, and more collaboration between police and community“

Dimitrios (Jim) Mastoras (Nightlife Safety and Policing Consultant), interviewee

• “Police often have an adversarial relationship with nightlife and hospitality venues, meaning operators have no incentive to ask for help, for fear it will be used against them. 

• In Arlington County we changed this culture over time through a proactive alliance policing model, which stopped focusing on arrests, and empowered operators to improve their practices.

• There were significant drops in alcohol related harm and violence as a result.

• Resorting to enforcement practices is no longer good enough. We need a collaborative perspective on issues, to come up with solutions that are mutually beneficial.”

“How do we interact with the drag racing scene when there are no venues or permanent spaces, no boss or central management – simply a community? Detroit is wrestling with this issue now.”

Cornelius Harris (Underground Resistance; Detroit Berlin Connection), interviewee

• Nightlife means something different in every city. A big feature of Detroit underground culture is illegal drag racing, where the city’s music and car cultures collide. 

• We should help people express themselves in this non-traditional way, and find spaces for them to do so safely, instead of criminalising their behaviour.

• People have existing ideas about who the night belongs to. A mental shift must come to acknowledge there are things of value outside the scope of our preconceived notions of the night. 

• Address the dynamic between police and community. Police could be part of the solution, by being proactive and interactive out in the community, rather than waiting for the worst to happen before reacting. 

How to co-exist – a broader notion of planning cities at night 

Andreina Seijas (Harvard University), GNRP editor and coordinator

• We need to bring together state and non state actors, and strengthen local alliances to cope with challenges of coexisting, and allow for decriminalization of certain activities and more flexibility of regulations. 

• Most nighttime regulations are focused on distribution of alcohol users and licensing. We need to find a way in which we can diversify sources of revenue and distribution of activities.

• As the field of nightlife studies grows around the world we are introduced to new perspectives – incorporating these will lead to a broader notion of planning for cities at night.

Read about global updates from the call here

Thank you to all who participated, we look forward to seeing you on the next call.

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Japan – Kana Ito

• There was no official lockdown, but nightlife businesses were forced to close. Government financial support was available. 
• 50-80% of customers back now, depending on location. Fewer customers in cbd area because risk of infection higher there. 
• We have been nearing normal nightlife operation since October, with additional precautions like staff in masks, temperature checks and detail collection on entry. 
• There is a possible threat of a third wave on the horizon

India – Varun Patra 

• The crisis has shown India’s problems, and not left our leaders anywhere to hide. 
• Hospitality has reopened in many cities, but at very low capacity – around 30%. Performance venues have also recently opened, seated only. 
• India has always been a bit lazy in how our cities and events are run. This is the chance for us to pilot new systems and implement essential safety protocols.
• Before the pandemic there was little to no al fresco dining in India. Bangalore has piloted this recently and other cities are likely to follow. 
• There has been no financial support for nightlife. 
• Livestreaming is already a tired format. We are exploring decentralized events – a hybrid model of online and offline, finding creative ways to bring alive our districts. 

Mexico – Adelina Lobo 

• There has been no lockdown for many months despite rising cases. 
• Restaurants are running but live music and stadium events are close. 
• Covid parties – where people deliberately get together in order to infect themselves – are a problem. 
• Private parties in general have become a huge issue for the government. Control is increasingly given over to criminals. 

New York City – Jose Soegaard

• Cases are rising again.
• Indoor seating is at 25% capacity only. Alcohol consumption must be with food, and we have a midnight curfew. 
• Since the beginning, all ticketed performances and events have been banned. Legislation currently in congress (with bipartisan support) to give grants to performance businesses of up to 12million to help them survive the next few months. 
• There has been an increase in outdoor activity thanks to an effective outdoor seating program which more than 10k bars and restaurants took advantage of. Happily, this program is now going to be permanent. 

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