Changing times for an old industrial city: Hard times, hedonism and corporate power in Newcastle's nightlife

Abstract

Here, focusing on the experience of Newcastle, Chatterton and Hollands continue debates around culture, capital and the 'creative' city already initiated in this journal (see Chatterton, 'Will the real creative city please stand up?' in City 4(3) (2000), and Harcup in City 4(2) (2000), for example). Research on the form, origins, regulation and ownership of the city's nightlife lead to an image of a city which in many ways exemplifies patterns of socio-economic adjustment following the decline of manufacturing evident in other UK cities, especially in the north east region. However, 'beset by problems of visible decay, social polarisation, and deprivation from its industrial past', Newcastle also has its distinct idiosyncrasies. The authors argue that in a more thoughtful approach to the city's development, room should be provided for the growth of a genuinely creative, inclusive and regionally specific urban nightlife, less dominated by large-scale corporations, and more responsive to local cultural factors. Their optimistic conclusion is that the opportunities are still there to 'strike a balance between commercial and local need, and the interests of corporate capital and users of the city, whoever they may be'.