Urban planners like the nightlife. They like to boogie. But one researcher argues that planners should better understand how to balance the positive and negative effects of a bustling nightlife.
Deutsche Welle runs an interview with urban scientist Jakob F. Schmid, of HafenCity University in Hamburg, who explains why planners develop a more thorough understanding of how bars and clubs operate in the wee hours of the night.
According to Schmid, his native country of Germany has done very little on the planning implications of nightlife, so "the discourse about it tends to be problem-focused and very restrictive."
"Unlike areas such as retail, local authorities and urban planners know very little about the patterns of the night economy. With our research project 'City After Eight' we want to make an impact and offer formula-based recommendations for urban planning and city marketing," says Schmid.
The article features insight into the graphic representation of the nightlife in 12 cities, as created by Schmid's research team. Schmid also notes the stronger tradition for researching the planning implications of nightlife in the United Kingdom.
FULL STORY: Why urban planners should pay attention to nightlife
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