Over the years, the nocturnal landscape of cities has witnessed a significant transformation, marked by the emergence of more than 80-night mayors globally, a trend that has been on the rise since the early 2000s. Andreina Seijas, currently working as an Associate at Gehl, has analyzed these shifting dynamics of night-time governance in her research and during her doctoral studies at Harvard GSD. Seijas speaks in the interview about this development, challenges, and opportunities with night mayors, global differences, and the role of climate change. Seijas' upbringing in Caracas, Venezuela, where safety concerns dictated strict curfews, ignited her passion for creating safer, more inclusive urban environments, particularly for the youth. Her quest for a better future for the urban night explores the potential for cities to become safer, more inclusive, and more productive by creating spaces for work and leisure after dark.
TS: Which elements are important for creating an attractive nighttime in cities?
AS: There is a great metaphor that I borrowed from the former mayor of Bogota, Antanas Mockus. He talked about the city as a combination of hardware and software, just like a computer. When managing life at night, the hardware refers to the infrastructure such as public lighting, transportation, and the ability of our public spaces to provide safe and inclusive opportunities for social interaction after dark. But cities also require nocturnal software, which refers to the regulations, codes, and behavioral patterns that shape night-time behavior. For example, liquor licensing affects the distribution of night-time activities in North American cities.
Related Article
Chromasonic: An immersive Renaissance of California's Minimalist Light and Space MovementAside from those two components, a third element is night-time governance, which refers to the institutions responsible for managing life at night. This growing cast of actors includes neighborhood watches, public-private partnerships, square or neighborhood hosts, and the emerging role of night mayors.
Urban life at night is an ecosystem. That is why it is very important to differentiate between ‘nightlife’ and ‘life at night’ because the first one is a subset of the second. In other words, managing life also involves other non-leisure activities such as those who work in healthcare, transportation, and logistics.
Strategies that aim to change a city’s situation at night should therefore consider these three components—hardware, software, and institutions—and not just how public infrastructure can be improved. Maybe it's about updating a regulation or introducing new policies. In any case, cities should also consider who are the stakeholders involved and how to create a new night vision that responds to their needs.
TS: Why have more cities hired a night mayor and how did it start?
AS: Night mayors are individuals responsible for managing life at night. The role has evolved over the past 15 years, from its inception in European cities like Amsterdam and Berlin to its dissemination around the world. The origin of the title comes from the Netherlands, inspired by the Dutch poet and performer Jules Deelder, who liked to call himself the ‘night mayor’ of Rotterdam. However, night studies had already started around the 1990s, particularly in countries such as the United Kingdom. For criminologist Dr Phil Hadfield, these studies have evolved in a series of waves. The first focused on the transformation of post-industrial city centers beyond the 9 to 5 timeframe and was marked by factors such as the conversion of abandoned warehouses and buildings into bars, clubs, and creative spaces. The second wave of night studies focused on how to regulate these rapidly expanding new activities. This reactive period was very focused on CCTV, zoning laws, licensing, and the role of police and city governments in mitigating the problems caused by increased night-time urban activity. During the third and more proactive wave, cities started to integrate data and planning mechanisms to measure the impact of the night-time economy on quality of life and well-being. In this context, the emergence of night mayors can be considered as a fourth wave, which advocates for a collaborative approach to managing the urban night.
TS: What is the night mayor situation today?
AS: In 2020, former Amsterdam night mayor Mirik Milan and I published a paper in Urban Studies that presented the results of the first qualitative study on this new role: who are the world’s night mayors, what is their mandate, what resources they have available, and whether they were working alone or with a team. The paper led to a global night mayors map that is constantly updated with new roles and offices that have been created around the world. This map can be found here.
Today, many cities have created official departments or offices to manage life at night in collaboration with other city agencies. In cities like Amsterdam, London, Mannheim, New York, and Washington D.C. there has already been more than one night mayor, or the incumbent has been in office for multiple terms. The durability of this role has enabled these geographies to transition from reactive measures to sustainable long-term policies. Based on their expertise, former night mayors have also become consultants advising other cities on how to manage life at night.
TS: What are the differences between Europe, the United States, and Latin America regarding night-time governance?
AS: Over the past three decades, we have seen an evolution of night-time governance all around the world, especially in the Americas, influenced by large cities like New York. International night mayors often collaborate—online and in person—to share first-hand knowledge and experience on how to manage their night-time economies. However, each city and region are unique and night-time governance strategies must be designed with history and local context in mind.
When I started my research almost 15 years ago, I realized that most night studies were available in English, French, and German, but not in Spanish. As a Venezuelan, most of my early work was focused on raising awareness of the relevance of the night in Latin America. In a highly unequal region, in Latin America, the link between night-time activity and crime is quite prominent, which explains why most strategies are highly restrictive. Changing this mindset requires a more proactive and inclusive approach that recognizes the value of life at night from a social and cultural perspective.
TS: Which challenges have you identified that cities face managing life at night?
AS: When managing life at night, night mayors and policymakers often face a series of misconceptions that hinder their ability or the resources available to do their job.
The first misconception is that having shorter nights is synonymous with having better nights. In other words, that efficient nighttime management requires restricting hours and activities after dark with measures like curfews and strict lockdowns. Amsterdam is a great example of a city that has helped debunk this myth by introducing policies that expand night-time activity. In 2010, the city introduced 24-hour licenses, a policy scheme that has both a spatial and a temporal component: On one hand it aims to decongest traditional nightlife areas—such as the Red Light District—by encouraging new night-time activity to happen outside of the city center. On the other hand, the scheme proves that staggered closing times are more efficient than having all establishments close at once, which leads to thousands of people coming out to the street at the same time and disrupting those who are sleeping.
A second misconception is that life at night is a monolithic experience, in other words, it is experienced equally by everyone. As part of our work with clients around the world, Gehl conducts studies that allow us to map and characterize the way public spaces are used throughout the day. These studies provide detailed inventories revealing how place attributes such as the distribution of urban furniture, lighting, traffic, and wayfinding can influence social experiences, and how these experiences can also vary based on demographic characteristics like age, gender, race, income, and neurodiversity. When gathered and analyzed systematically, the unique ways in which people and places shape one another become opportunities to enhance urban life after dark.
A third misconception is that life at night is both a cause and consequence of climate change. Increased nighttime activity is often associated with light and sound pollution and other environmental impacts. However, it is also an indicator of rising temperatures. Countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Spain are already witnessing greater densities in public spaces at night and have banned outdoor occupational activities during daytime conditions of extreme heat. Cities and organizations will need to gradually adapt work schedules, and invest in programming and infrastructure that enable greater use of public spaces at night, when temperatures are lower than during the day.
Managing cities after dark is the new urban frontier. The challenge for planners, designers, and policymakers is to overcome these prevailing misconceptions and to take advantage of the other half of the day.
Light matters, a column on light and space, is written by Dr. Thomas Schielke. Based in Germany, he is fascinated by architectural lighting and works as a trainer for the lighting company ERCO. He has published numerous articles and co-authored the books “Light Perspectives” and “SuperLux”. For more information check www.erco.com and www.arclighting.de.
