On Night Life: Nocturnal Cities
A series by: Aya Abdelfatah and Islam (Sam) Ibrahim
Today’s Morning Cities
Have you ever had a long work day and wanted to go out to eat something healthy late at night but no restaurants were open? Did you ever wish you could go shopping after a long working day but the stores were already closed? Did you ever arrive from a long trip with a horrible jetlag and simply wanted to go out for a walk at 2 am, thinking it is 2pm, but didn’t feel “safe” to do it?
While 24-hour cities have numerous economic and wellness benefits, many North American cities, Vancouver included, transform into ghost towns after sunset. Even downtown cores become void of the vibrant morning life; no more business meetings, no more people enjoying coffee on a patio.
This article aims to highlight the benefits of the night-life economy by drawing from international examples, as well as local efforts to systematically implement measures in our own city. Keeping the city’s vibrancy has immense benefits, in the morning and equally throughout the night.
The Power of Eyes
Let’s start from the basics, in 1961 Janes Jacob wrote about the importance of having “eyes on the street” to ensure a vibrant and safe street life. These eyes are naturally drawn to interesting activities and foot traffic on the curbside, which typically take place during the daytime.
Extending those activities into the night-time would ensure a continuous neighborhood sense of safety and community cohesion. These curbside activities have to be coupled with enhanced streetscapes which offer adequate lighting, security, and public services that run later into the night.
A comprehensive system allows for diverse night-time activities that caters for an array of people, both locals and visitors alike. The government has a role to play by providing easements such as extending retail and transit operating hours.
Cities that never sleep
Any world traveler, or universal reader, knows that Beirut, Bogota, Cairo, New York, Tokyo and many more cities “never sleep”. Those cities have a night-life that caters for a wide variety of people.
Active nightlife is not exclusively associated with alcohol consumption. Surely clubs, bars, and pubs are a no-brainer, yet, offering entertainment for different ages, lifestyles, and cultures encompasses a larger demographic group and an inclusive variety.
Souks (outdoor shopping mall) in Beirut are open till 10pm, Bodegas (corner stores) in Bogota are open till 2am, koshks (kiosks) in Cairo are open till the next morning. These examples, among others, cater to various client groups and in turn, maintain a vibrant activity level on the street throughout the night.
Today, globalization is at a point far beyond fashion, social media, and languages. Temporal globalization opens up the door for people with different schedules, routines, and rhythms to enjoy the city around the clock.
A Paradigm Shift
The emergence of remote work and entrepreneurship is creating a paradigm shift in city life. People are no longer tied to work at the same location, or even in the same time zone. Flexible working conditions are opening up an opportunity for 24-hour cities. Thus, leisure time is no longer exclusive to weekends or after 5pm.
Furthermore, 42.5% of the total population of the City of Vancouver are immigrants, entailing a high percentage of diversity in lifestyles, work-leisure balance, and night-life preferences.
Action has already started taking place; in 2019 Councilor Dominato raised a motion to create a strategy for the Nighttime Economy in Vancouver. A similar action plan was released by the City of Toronto during the same year.
It is time for our cities to start adapting; time to start pushing for intentionally designed, diverse, inclusive, and active night-life.
Urban Reflections is a series which sheds light on the degree of resilience of cities as revealed by the pandemic in a way that contributes to a constructive dialogue so that social justice prevails in the future of our urban life.
