March 2019
Let’s add “nighttime overlay” to the language of city planning.
It is time cities consider a range of criteria – user equity, economic viability, and health – and light in nighttime design and planning initiatives.
By Leni Schwendinger, with Daleana Vega Martinez and Fatima Terin of International Nighttime Design Initiative
As the sun sets, 9-to-5’rs leave their place of work. By 11:00pm clubbers are prowling the city and third shift workers are just starting their “day.” With night activities and flexible working hours increasingly redefining urban experience, greater emphasis should be focused on the after-dark environment. Which transformational public palettes – design, policy, zoning – can successfully enlarge New York City public space inhabitation and work opportunities?
This is an invitation to urbanists who believe in places that are welcoming, heterogeneous and inclusive from dusk to dawn.
Night Shift, an Urban Design Forum NYC event
From the Forum:
With New York City’s nightlife economy generating $10 billion annually, the new NYC Office of Nightlife is exploring creative ways to support nightlife business owners, residents, patrons and the 300,000 night shift workers. As the nightlife economy continues to grow, New York City will face new challenges to balance all types of urban life at night.
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?
We hosted a round-table conversation with the new NYC Nightlife Mayor Ariel Palitz, Danny Pearlstein, Leni Schwendinger, Andreina Seijas, and Luc Wilson on designing an inclusive and equitable night realm.
International Nighttime Design Initiative 