Calling Time: Managing Activities in Space and Time in the Evening/Night-time Economy

Abstract

Recent years have seen the emergence of two policy objectives and associated development trends in UK city centres relating to urban vitality and to the urban renaissance policy agenda. These involve a shift towards more city centre residential development and, associated with the 24-Hour City agenda, a shift towards the development of evening/night-time economies (ENTEs). Mixed land uses are seen as an essential component of this vitality. But conflicts often arise from different land uses in close proximity, which, in turn, suggests a need for the sensitive management of urban areas in general and the ENTE in particular. Focusing on the management of activities in space and time in the ENTE of UK cities, this article explores how planning and liquor licensing controls, the two main sets of contextual controls for the ENTE, provide both the context for more active forms of management and policing and frame an opportunity space for behaviour and conduct. The article's overarching argument is that the management of the ETNE should be considered in terms of a fine-grained understanding of space and time.