Night Studies
“The night is ‘the time of nobody’. It is a time which is free for ones own personal development. It is the time of friendship, of love, of conversation. It is freer than the daytime from social constraints, conventions and persecutions.”
In 2008, along with sociologist Gerardo Gonzalez, I embarked on an exploratory journey: the study of the night as a notion of time and space, but more importantly, as a field that requires planning and policy like any other. My goal is to contribute to the existing literature on the field and to pave the way for safer, more inclusive and productive cities after dark.
This section summarizes my contributions (some published, some still works in progress) to the fascinating field we like to call “Night Studies."
Meet other Night Students here.
The Rise of Night Mayors: Managing Economy, Culture Security and Climate Change after Dark
Scenes from a park in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia at 9:45pm, 2024. Image © Amanda Gregor, Gehl
It seems like forever since Mirik Milan Gelders and I embarked on a qualitative study to map the growing "night mayor" phenomenon around the world. Five years later, 30+ cities have created their own roles and institutions to manage life at night, showing an evolution from reactive to collaborative policies to govern urban ecosystems after dark.
Thanks to Thomas Schielke for this great interview for Archdaily that summarizes some of my thoughts on night-time planning--an emerging field I have been studying for 15 years (!)--as well as some new ideas that I am exploring from my role at Gehl - Making Cities for People.
Read the interview here.
MAnaging time as the new urban frontier
In 2024, I was happy to receive an invitation to write a preface for the 4th chapter of the Local and Regional Time Agenda focused on Urban Nighttime Policies.
The Local and Regional Time Agenda is a compilation of time policies implemented by local and regional authorities around the world. It is coordinated by the Local and Regional Governments Time Network, an international network to exchange and promote workable time policies generated at local and regional level.
The publication provides policy examples and international case studies around four areas: nighttime governance, inclusive nighttime leisure, night safety, and policies to respect residents’ rest.
You can find the publication here.
WEBINAR: CLIMATE CHANGE AFTER DARK
Watch this great conversation with Michele Acuto (University of Bristol) and Alessio Kolioulis (University College London) and learn about the links between the night-time economy and climate change. Thank you Randall While (24HourNation) for inviting us and for facilitating this dialogue!
MASTERCARD launches 24-HOUR CITIES NETWORK
An image of some of the speakers and participants of the third workshop that focused on night-time mobility and happened on September 21, 2022
In 2022, I joined Mastercard’s City Possible team as resident expert responsible for curating and organizing 4 online workshops geared at discussing some of the challenges and opportunities for 24-hour cities: governance, safety and inclusion, mobility, and economic development.
Want to learn more? Check out these resources:
An article about the network here.
The 24-Hour Cities Network Website here.
Insight report from the first session on Night-Time Governance, available here.
Insight report from the second session on Night-Time Safety and Inclusion, available here.
TOURING BARCELONA AFTER DARK
What is nocturnal heritage?
Standing in front of Can Culleretes, one of Barcelona’s oldest restaurants (est. 1786), to learn about the concept of “nocturnal heritage”
While I am still relatively new to Barcelona, I have quickly become fascinated by its long nocturnal history.
Since November 2021, I have been invited by Study Abroad programs to lead 90-minute tours geared at international students who are interested in exploring the city’s night-time economy. During the tour, we walk through some of Barcelona’s main public spaces at night and discover some of its best-kept nocturnal secrets. By conducting an “audit” and careful examination of these spaces and discussing their challenges and opportunities, students get acquainted with the emerging field of “night-time urban planning” and discover what makes cities so special after dark.
NEW BOOK: MANAGING CITIES AT NIGHT
I am happy to share that this new book is now available for purchase here. This volume is the result of months of collaboration with Michele Acuto, Jenny McArthur and Enora Robin and is meant to be a practical guide on the novel concept of night-time governance. Thanks to Bristol University Press for making it possible!
The book draws on a wide range of case studies of after dark activity in cities around the world, reviewing labor, environmental services, healthcare, the role of leaders including night mayors, managers and commissioners, and the influence of both public and private sectors. It also provides some insights on the future of night-time governance in the context of COVID-19.
I hope you find it interesting. Happy reading!
You can also read a great review from Alessio Kolioulis for Urban Studies, available here.
GLOBAL NIGHTTIME RECOVERY PLAN
Nighttime ecosystems are among the most affected by the pandemic. Aware of this outcome and convened by VibeLab, a large group of experts, academics, advocates and night “students” from all over the world came together to develop the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan (GNRP): a practical guide aimed at sharing practices to handle the COVID crisis and help cities design solutions to protect their dwindling night scenes. The plan consists in a set of chapters. Each of them focuses on a specific topic: outdoor nightlife, the future of dancefloors, 24-hour environments during a pandemic, and many more…
As a member of the editorial team for these publications, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed putting them together! You can download all the chapters in https://www.nighttime.org/recoveryplan/
GOVERNING THE URBAN NIGHT: UNDERSTANDING THE SHIFTING DYNAMICS OF NIGHT-TIME GOVERNANCE IN THREE GLOBAL CITIES
In September 2020, I finished my doctoral studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and defended my dissertation titled "Governing the Urban Night: Understanding the shifting dynamics of night-time governance in three global cities."
By tracing the history of night-time regulations in three cities—Amsterdam, London and New York—from the 1990s until today, this research project provides new knowledge on the variations of night-time governance and analyzes how managing the urban night relates to other forms of governance during the day. The dissertation includes an epilogue that analyzes how night-time governance regimes react to shocks and crisis, such as the one that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.
I was lucky to have Diane E. Davis (Harvard GSD), Jerold Kayden (Harvard GSD) and Will Straw (McGill) as my advisors in this process. The dissertation is available for download here.
Keywords: urban night, night-time governance, global cities, “night mayors”
CITIES AFTER DARK - A NEW PODCAST BY THE CONNECTED CITIES LAB
In 2020, I had the privilege of co-hosting “Cities After Dark,” a new podcast series produced by the University of Melbourne’s Connected Cities Lab that looks into different aspects—social, economic, environmental, governance—of cities at night. Check out the episodes here:
Episode 1: Into the Night
Episode 2: Having Night Mayors
Episode 3: Night Shift
Episode 4: Right to the Night
Episode 5: Sleep
Andreina Seijas charts the emergence of the “night mayor”—an advocate, mediator, and policy-maker for a city’s nocturnal life
In July 2020, the Harvard Graduate School of Design kindly featured my work on the “news” section of their website.
The article focuses on the recent study produced in collaboration with Mirik Milan Gelders, which led to an academic paper published by Urban Studies.
The piece also highlights the growing role of “night mayors” around the world and their involvement in city strategies to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
You can read the full article here.
WEBINAR: REOPENING THE NIGHT-TIME CITY
On May 20, 2020 I had the opportunity to share some insights about nocturnal cities + COVID-19 in the context of a webinar organized by C40 Cities. The title of the presentation was “Reopening the night-time city: Can cities create safe and inclusive nocturnal environments in times of social distancing?”
The webinar was part of a series of talks organized by the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities Project.
The talk was recorded and is available here.
WEBINAR: GLOBAL INSIGHTS ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE SOCIAL ECONOMY
On May 6, 2020 I participated in a webinar organized by the Responsible Hospitality Institute (RHI) to discuss insights and perspectives on the future of life at night in light of the current pandemic. I had the pleasure to discuss these ideas with Philip Kolvin, former Chair of London’s Night-Time Commission, and Jim Peters, Founder and President of RHI.
More details and the link to listen to the webinar can be found here. An article based on some of these insights and authored by Philip Kolvin and Alicia Scholer (RHI) can be found here.
INTERACTIVE MAP OF NIGHT MAYORS, OFFICERS AND COMMISSIONS WORLDWIDE
Snapshot of the map. For an interactive experience, visit https://www.nighttime.org/map/
Since 2001, over 50 cities have established nighttime commissions or individual leaders who act as conveners, innovators, and strategic thinkers to ensure safety, cultural vibrancy, and economic development at night. Sometimes informally referred to as “night mayors” or “night czars,” these roles vary widely from city to city. Some cities appoint or elect nighttime managers within an office of municipal government. Other nighttime liaisons or commissions arise from a business-industry or downtown association context, while others emerge from grassroots or nightlife community organizing efforts.
This interactive map is the first to capture this fast-growing field in real time. It is based on data obtained through a recent study published in Urban Studies (Seijas and Gelders, 2020) and was developed and curated by Diana Raiselis and a group of students from Fontys University. The map will be updated regularly to reflect new offices and initiatives.
To provide updates or corrections please enter organisation details in this google form or mail hello@vibe-lab.org for more info.
Nocturnal Governance in times of social distancing: The role of cities in saving nighttime industry and culture
“Depopulated Nighthawks” by D Rohrer
In times of COVID-19, what can cities do to save urban nightlife? How helpful can night mayors be in this process?
While everything is still up in the air, here are some preliminary ideas on Nocturnal Governance times of social distancing. I hope this reflection helps start a productive conversation about ways in which we can turn this around. Thanks VibeLab for all the help with this piece and for sharing it in nighttime.org--a key resource for those interested in these topics.
Thoughts/ comments welcome!
first qualitative study on “night mayors” is out
In April 2018, Mirik Milan Gelders and I embarked on a study to analyze the rise of "night mayors" from the perspective of urban governance. This qualitative study gathered information on the origins, propagation and geographic variations in the role to provide a first comprehensive look at this position. By using a survey, we collected data from 35 night mayors and night-time advocacy organizations from around the world. We also interviewed several scholars and experts who have been influential in this emerging field of "night studies."
The study led to a paper published by Urban Studies in early 2020 and available here. The paper includes a couple of infographics that illustrate the rapid expansion of the “night mayor movement” around the world. See the first of these infographics below.
We hope that you enjoy reading the paper and look forward to your comments!
Infographic designed by Jack Waghorn (2019) based on data gathered from the study.
NIGHT SHIFT: MANAGING THE URBAN NIGHT IN NYC
In December 2018, I participated in Night Shift, a roundtable conversation with the NYC Nightlife Mayor Ariel Palitz, Danny Pearlstein, Leni Schwendinger and Luc Wilson on designing an inclusive and equitable night realm. The goal of the conversation was to try to answer questions such as:
How should we plan mixed-use development while considering nighttime activity?
How do we design the public realm to strengthen the safety and mobility for night shift workers?
Read more about the event and the speakers here.
Read a brief piece that summarizes some of my ideas on why city governments should actively manage the urban night through regulation, design and infrastructure here.
Photo: Pedro Lollett
NOCTURNAL CITIEs in vogue
In January 2019, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Amira Saim, a good friend and the Digital Coordinator of Vogue Mexico and Latin America about my research project and its relevance for our region.
Among other things, I spoke about the reasons that drove me to study the urban night, the definition and scope of these ‘night studies,’ and what kind of actions cities can take to improve their night scene.
Read the full interview (in Spanish) and check out the photos by the talented Venezuelan photographer Pedro Lollett here.
NOCTURNAL CITIES: THE FIRST Latin American CONFERENCE ON MANAGING THE URBAN NIGHT (bogota, colombia)
On November 22, 2018, the first Nocturnal Cities Conference explored the relationship between city planning and the night-time economy, and introduce new thinking and action to develop more vibrant and inclusive night scenes. The event was a co-production between Sound Diplomacy and the City of Bogotá, and was co-curated by Andreina Seijas, Researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Key event objectives were:
● Creating an international forum to discuss common challenges to managing the urban night, and a hub for night-time advocacy in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
● Launching the Spanish version of “A Guide to Managing your Night-Time Economy” and exchanging best practices and innovations in night-time planning and design.
● Analyzing the impact and relevance of the growing movement of “night mayors.”
● Developing a “manifesto” and a set of targets towards better night-time standards in the region.
Read the event summary here and download the Latin American Nocturnal Cities Manifesto here.
#NocturnalCitiesBogota
creative footprint: measuring live music space in nyc
Photo taken outside of the Ace Hotel on September 28, 2018, during NightCamp: A one-day event to launch the Creative Footprint report for the city, and rethink the way NYC plans and uses its spaces after dark.
On Friday September 28th, the results of the Creative Footprint NYC were released at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan. With more than 25,000 data points collected about the city’s 495 venues, the report gives a detailed snapshot of the health and vibrancy of New York’s live music scene.
The CFP NYC report launch was followed by a day-long intensive workshop session called NightCamp, which brought together 80 engaged stakeholders from the city’s nightlife community. The results of the workshop were aggregated into a white paper which we hope will drive the conversation around these important topics in the coming months.
Amongst the stakeholders in attendance were Senior Executive Director of the Office of Nightlife Ariel Palitz, Councilman Rafael Espinal, and representatives from Red Bull, Ticketswap, NYC Hospitality Alliance, City Parks, Avant Gardner, PopGun, Nowadays, Afropunk, and Soundcloud.
Find more information and download the full report here.
Could a ‘night mayor’ awaken Boston’s sleepy night life?
Boston at night. Photo by Margot Morte
Boston’s reputation for a sleepy, sometimes underwhelming night life has long been a buzzkill for party-starved college students and working professionals. But what if the city had a night life boss?
I was quoted in a piece by Matt Rocheleau for the Boston Globe on how Boston could benefit from appointing a night mayor or manager to deal with issues such as transport, liquor licenses and other regulations after dark.
This article was published on December 22, 2017 and is available here.
NEW PUBLICATION: A GUIDE TO MANAGING YOUR NIGHT-TIME ECONOMY
Published in October 2017, this guide is written by Sound Diplomacy and Andreina Seijas. In it, you'll find out to how to develop and expand the benefits that the evening and night time economy create in your city, town and place.
The goal of this publication is to highlight existing best practices while championing diversity, information-sharing and debate. We feature 11 global thought leaders and case studies, but at the same time leave it open for others to take these ideas home and make them your own.
We wrote this guide for mayors and their advisors, economic development professionals, tourism agencies, cultural bodies and night time professionals, including owners, operators, artists and managers. It is also meant for planners, licensing professionals, police, environmental health agencies, chambers of commerce, business improvement districts and cultural quarters.
The full Night Time Economy Guide is available free for a limited period only.
Download it here.
THE NIGHTTIME MOVEMENT IN ASUNCION'S HISTORIC CITY CENTER: A CATALYST FOR URBAN REVITALIZATION
The night is a highly regulated space that is often overlooked in urban studies. A reductionist approach links the nocturnal to partying and transgressive social behavior, and has prevented many cities from exploring this time frame. By analyzing the recent process of revitalization that is taking place in the Historic City Center of Asunción (CHA in Spanish), this article hopes to demonstrate the potential of nightlife as a platform to enhance public safety, support economic development, and promote social inclusion in cities throughout Latin America.
Article coauthored with Rob Watson and Vladimir Velázquez Moreira and published in the Spring 2017 issue of Harvard Kennedy School's Latin America Policy Journal, available here.
DESIGNING FOR DARKNESS: WHAT CAN LATIN AMERICAN CITIES LEARN FROM THE ARABIAN PENINSULA?
Last weekend I attended a fascinating conference organized by the Graduate School of Design and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, titled “After Dark: Nocturnal Landscapes and Public Spaces in the Arabian Peninsula.” This was a unique opportunity to meet architects, designers, artists, and academics who share my passion for the night and its enormous potential from an urban development perspective.
It is interesting to see that—no matter their size or location—cities are constantly struggling to accommodate different uses (and users) and to ease existing tensions between them. For instance, while some hope the growth of residential developments in city centers will help address housing shortages, others believe it will pose a threat to nightlife venues and public spaces located in these areas, as it means they will have to abide by new noise and licensing regulations. The underlying problem is simple, and responds to an aspect that has been long overlooked by planners and designers: most cities weren’t designed for darkness.
Despite their many demographic, economic, and cultural differences, nocturnal landscapes in cities like Mecca, Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi have a lot in common with those of cities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Let me tell you why.
Red the article published in the IDB's Sustainable Cities Blog here.
THE NIGHT AS A SPACE FOR URBAN REVITALIZATION IN LATIN AMERICA
In August, I had the privilege of participating as a speaker at TEDxCallePalma, an event that gathered 8 international experts to share ideas on how to revitalize the Historic Center of Asuncion, Paraguay--also known as the "CHA."
The event was organized by Paraguay's National Secretariat of Culture, the Masterplan for the Revitalization of the Historic Center of Asuncion (PlanCHA) and the Association for the Night-Time Movement in the Historic Center of Asunción (AMCHA).
The title of my presentation was "The night as a space for urban revitalization in Latin America." You can watch the talk below (in Spanish, with subtitles.)
NIGHT STUDIES AROUND THE WORLD
From Amsterdam's Night Mayor to other urban night researchers in Latin America, meet other "night students" here.
CAN WE MANAGE THE URBAN NIGHT? A CONVERSATION WITH AMSTERDAM'S NIGHT MAYOR
Night-time Amsterdam. Photo: Andreina Seijas
I recently traveled to Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands and a world reference when it comes to night-time policies and innovation. One of such innovations is the creation of the Nachtburgemeester (the Night Mayor), a figure elected every two years to serve as the intermediary between daytime and night-time policies and regulations.
During my visit, I had the opportunity to meet Mirik Milan, the Night Mayor of Amsterdam (2014-2016). As Night Mayor, Milan presides a non-profit organization that works closely with Amsterdam’s City Hall to support and promote the city’s night culture for those who visit as well as for those who live in the Dutch capital.
Read my interview with Mirik Milan published on January 2016 in the IDB's Sustainable Cities blog here.
La Nuit Blanche in Latin America and the Caribbean
La Nuit Blanche (the White Night in French) is an annual arts festival that consists in a broad range of cultural installations, performances (such as music, film and dance), themes social gatherings and other activities that take place during the night.
Born in Paris in the late 1980s, the idea of a night-time festival of the arts has spread around the world, with events in over 120 cities, including Madrid, Toronto, Montreal, Brussels and Rome.
More recently, La Nuit Blanche has also reached a growing list of Latin American capitals, which have adopted the celebration of the night as an opportunity to promote local arts and culture. This map summarizes some of the celebrations of La Nuit Blanche in the region, and the years in which they began in each city.
24-HOUR CITIES? 5 REASONS TO PROMOTE THE NIGHT-TIME ECONOMY
Cities can increase their productivity by adopting measures that regulate and diversify the array of social and economic activities that take place during the night. From London’s experience, as well as that of other cities around the world, we can identify at least 5 reasons why our cities should promote their night-time economies.
Article published in September 2014 in the blog of the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI) of the Inter-American Development Bank. Read full article here.
RULING THE NIGHT
The night as a referential notion of time and space has rarely been addressed in social research, especially in urban studies. Existing literature comes mainly from the United Kingdom and North America and has taken two distinct directions...
Article originally published in the Fall 2012 issue of the Wagner Planner, an independent student newsletter of the Urban Planning Students Association (UPSA) at NYU Wagner. Read the article and the full issue here.
LET'S CALL IT A NIGHT: 24-hour cities for the post-tiananmen generation
This paper focuses on young men and women between 18 (legal drinking age in China) and 30 years of age who work and live in Chinese Tier 1 cities, and provides policy recommendations for Chinese policymakers and urban planners interested in regulating this time frame.
Research paper submitted as a requirement for the course Urbanization and Sustainable Development in Transitional China offered at Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service on Summer 2012.
Download the paper here.
who owns the night? the right to night spaces for the youth in caracas, venezuela
Most academic literature advocates a vision of the night as a negative space where transgressive behavior is exacerbated. As a result, night-time policies presume the need to restrict social behavior as a precondition to restore and maintain order during this time frame.
In Caracas, a city where only those who ‘own’ the night have access to its spaces, a positive night-time policy has been able to generate broader access to the nocturnal by providing a way for the youth to reclaim their right to the city. Such policy is Por El Medio de la Calle (in the middle of the street) an urban festival that has changed the idea of the night for young caraqueños.
Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree MSc Social Policy and Development at the London School of Economics on September 1, 2011.
Download the dissertation here.