Nightlife Planning: More Than Fun and Games

This session offers a unique opportunity for planners to connect to an emerging global movement leading governance and management of nightlife in cities. Effective planning for nightlife enables cities to proactively foster and support inclusive nighttime social spaces, instead of reacting to the conflicts that inevitably arise from a lack of planning for life at night.

The session will introduce the interdisciplinary field of nighttime economy management by highlighting nightlife’s role in placemaking, cultural celebrations, arts and entertainment, and economic development. Speakers will then highlight common challenges facing cities due to poor planning for nightlife through case studies from New York, Austin, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

The session will identify the difficulty of using land use and zoning to address common nighttime challenges and ensure compatibility between residential and nighttime uses. The presentation will further consider how nightlife conflicts in gentrifying neighborhoods can threaten longstanding, culturally important businesses.

To arm planners with new tools to support vibrant nightlife in cities, the presentation will showcase global best practices employed in the four case study cities, such as “Agent of Change” principles, progressive sound management, legacy business preservation, cultural districts, and nighttime economy offices (sometimes called “night mayors” or “night czars”).

Access this session with closed captions (Wordly)