The Rise of Night Mayors As a New Form of Urban Governance After Dark
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Governing the night-time city: The rise of night mayors as a new form of urban governance after dark The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Seijas, Andreina, and Mirik Gelders. 2019. Governing the night-time city: The rise of night mayors as a new form of urban governance after dark. Urban Studies, forthcoming. Published Version 10.1177/0042098019895224 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41940997 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, WARNING: No applicable access license found. Page 1 of 30 Urban Studies 1 2 3 4 5 Governing the night-time city: The rise of night mayors as a new form of urban governance 6 7 after dark 8 9 10 Abstract 11 12 The urban night has traditionally been a regimented space characterized by strict policing and 13 14 surveillance. Early research on the night-time economy documented the expansion of nightlife 15 from a centrepiece of culture-led redevelopment strategies in post-industrial cities, to the 16 17 introduction of a broad governance apparatus to manage the agglomeration of night-time activity. 18 19 Over the past two decades, a new actor has emerged: more than 40 cities have appointed night 20 21 mayors or individuals responsible for maintaining nocturnal vibrancy, while mediating between 22 those who wish to work, party or sleep. This article summarizes the results of a qualitative study 23 24 that gathered information on the origins, propagation and geographic variations in the role to 25 26 provide a first comprehensive look at this position. Data from 35 night mayors and night-time 27 advocacy organizations from around the world revealed that, though cities differ greatly in their 28 29 approach towards night-time infrastructure and regulation, there seems to be growing consensus 30 31 on the need for permanent nocturnal governance structures. By encouraging greater dialogue and 32 33 experimentation, these structures are challenging traditional approaches to urban governance and 34 paving the way for a new wave of studies on the urban night. 35 36 37 38 Keywords 39 40 urban governance, planning, urban night, nightlife, night mayor 41 42 43 Introduction 44 45 In recent years, globalization and the introduction of new forms of political participation have led 46 to significant changes in the cast of actors involved in managing urban areas. The contemporary 47 48 notion of urban governance refers to the process through which public and private resources are 49 50 coordinated by a wide range of actors—situated inside and outside local government—in the 51 52 pursuit of collective interests (Pierre, 2011). Though local governments are still a central player, 53 city planning involves a continuous process of negotiation in which non-elected urban actors are 54 55 attaining growing significance. Many frameworks and taxonomies have been proposed to compare 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cus [email protected] Urban Studies Page 2 of 30 1 2 3 urban governance cross-nationally (e.g. DiGaetano and Strom, 2003; Pierre, 2011). In light of 4 5 Pierre’s (2011) typology of urban governance regimes—managerial, corporatist, pro-growth and 6 7 welfare—the following article will analyse the origins and implications of a new actor whose rapid 8 propagation is influencing the way cities manage life after dark. 9 10 11 12 Night-time planning is an emerging field, and one that has been addressed insufficiently in urban 13 14 studies (Van Liempt et al, 2015). Its origins can be traced back to the early 1990s, when a small 15 number of cultural and urban theorists began using a temporal approach to think about the physical 16 17 and social dimensions of city planning (Bonfiglioli, 1997). By doing so, these scholars identified 18 19 unique qualities present in European town centres after dark and raised a new set of issues that lay 20 21 outside of the scope of urban governance and city management during the day. Subsequently, 22 “temps de villes” policies and research became concerned with the socio-economic implications 23 24 of the expansion of working hours and the availability of services for people throughout the 24- 25 26 hour cycle (Boulin and Mückenberger, 1999). 27 28 29 A useful framework to understand the evolution of studies on the urban night was provided by 30 31 Hadfield (2015) and recognises three waves of research in this emerging field. For Hadfield, a 'first 32 33 wave’ of studies corresponds to culture-led redevelopment strategies aimed at extending the 34 vitality of post-industrial city centres beyond the 9-to-5 time frame, which saw the night-time 35 36 economy (NTE) as a key platform to transform abandoned warehouses and buildings into bars, 37 38 clubs and creative spaces, to bring people back to the city (Comedia Consultancy, 1991; Bianchini, 39 40 1995; Roberts, 2004; Shaw, 2014; Hadfield, 2015). In a context of intensified competition between 41 cities, the goal of these strategies was to deregulate ‘restrictive’ urban planning and licensing 42 43 regimes and foster a growing culture around the notion of the ‘24-hour city.’ 44 45 46 By leaving market forces “off the leash,” these strategies led to a rapid expansion of drinking- 47 48 based leisure and its agglomeration in city centres, contributing to a rise in urban noise, crime and 49 50 antisocial behaviour and triggering a backlash from residents and NGOs (Hobbs et al, 2003; 51 52 Roberts and Eldridge, 2012). For Hadfield (2015), these unanticipated negative outcomes were the 53 central concern of the ‘second wave’ of studies on the urban night, which focused on assessing the 54 55 ability of existing governance structures to manage the negative consequences of a growing and 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cus [email protected] Page 3 of 30 Urban Studies 1 2 3 ‘problematic’ night-time economy (Hobbs et al, 2005). These studies often focused on the 4 5 ‘negative externalities’ associated with activity after dark and tried to quantify the operational 6 7 costs of managing it efficiently (TBR, 2016). Powered by media reports of these negative 8 consequences, this period demonized certain night-time practices and behaviours—particularly 9 10 those related to alcohol consumption—while overshadowing residents’ genuine claims for active 11 12 but more diverse late-night experiences (Eldridge and Roberts, 2008). As a result, new forms of 13 14 video surveillance such as CCTV proliferated in this period, along with the emergence of new 15 zoning laws and regulations that provided a broader range of enforcement options to local police 16 17 and city governments (Hadfield et al, 2009). 18 19 20 21 Urban systems of nocturnal governance operate in different levels and range from laws and state 22 actors like the police, to informal agreements and non-state actors like neighbourhood watches. 23 24 Aside from having a common mission to oversee what happens in an area after dark, most of these 25 26 systems share a limitation: they often assume the need to mirror or exacerbate the mechanisms of 27 order and control that exist during the day, while disregarding the unique features of urban life 28 29 after dark. The night has traditionally been used as a pretext for strict policing and for maintaining 30 31 structures of social exclusion (Straw, 2018). Bianchini (1995) refers to these structures as 32 33 ‘regulators of behaviour’ that range from licensing authorities to bouncers in a night club. For 34 Hadfield (2015), the ‘third wave’ of studies on the urban night is concerned with studying the 35 36 exclusionary outcomes that result from these structures, which are based on race and ethnicity, 37 38 social class, gender, age and sexual preferences among other factors. This wave incorporates new 39 40 voices and case studies from Western Europe, North America and Southeast Asia that come to 41 diversify a field that previously relied heavily on the British and Australian experience. 42 43 44 45 Moving away from the pessimistic ethos of previous studies, this ‘third wave’ of research on the 46 urban night encouraged more proactive discussions about how to integrate data and planning 47 48 mechanisms to tackle issues such as the saturation of licensed premises and an alcohol-centric 49 50 definition of the night-time economy. In 2012, Roberts and Eldridge published their seminal book 51 52 titled “Planning the Night-Time City,” and in 2015 Urban Studies devoted an entire volume to 53 explore the “geographies of the urban night” (Van Liempt et al, 2015). These publications 54 55 coincided with the rise of multi-sectoral efforts to reduce binge drinking and initiatives to 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cus [email protected] Urban Studies Page 4 of 30 1 2 3 encourage nightlife operators to improve their safety and quality standards. Examples include the 4 5 Purple Flag and Best Bar None accreditation schemes in the United Kingdom, which called for 6 7 greater dialogue and cooperation between city governments and the nightlife industry. 8 9 10 These partnerships and collaborations—along with the rise of Third-Party Policing (TPP) in the 11 12 night-time economy—paved the way for greater consensus around the notion of nocturnal 13 14 governance as a complex responsibility that involves a mix of agencies including the police, 15 licensing authorities, resident groups and public health institutions, among others. Rather than 16 17 focusing on restrictive mechanisms to handle night-time crime and antisocial behaviour, this 18 19 broader notion advocates for a networked response that allows cities to tackle a wider range of 20 21 social, economic and environmental factors of life after dark.