The 24-hour city

The 24-hour City Visions of a vibrant, urbane city that fuses together culture and commerce for all of its inhabitants is at the heart of the 24-hour city concept. There is certainly excitement over this night and day city: a symbol of the triumph of the arts, of an intelligence-based economy, and as a space of collaboration. The after-dark urban playgrounds are unleashed by the deregulation of the night-time leisure economy. The urban night is a space of sensuous experience, a space of specific pleasure and danger. And at the same time, the world of work painfully toils into the dawn. At the edge of culture and innovation, the 24-hour city slays its old shadows.

But this picture 24-hour city is clearly out of focus. Its health deteriorates as strategies of deregulation permit the growth of a market-led destruction of diversity, and produce a monoculture of licensed premises and fast-food outlets that scratch away at the pleasures of the urban night. There is certainly conflict between the exclusivity of the night-time economy of youth culture and the dream of the urbane 24-hour city.

The eyes on our street are glazed over with dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction over the disorder of aggressive hedonism on the street and its effects on residential amenity. Dissatisfaction about crime and the fear of crime. Dissatisfaction that the most profound outward exclusionary effects of this 24-hour urbanism are exacted upon those most disempowered in society.

This meeting of the London Women and Planning Forum aims to address the questions surrounding the 24-hour city and ways of life within the city. It also has the objective of creating a dialogue between academics and practitioners working with the urban environment.

The seminar asks:

• What are the problems of the social, cultural and industrial 24-hour urban economies, and what can be done to address them?
• What does 24-hour city have to offer more than a youth-dominated drink and drugs dance culture in bars and clubs?
• How can the 24-hour city satisfy the social needs and aspirations of women in local communities?
• What are the gendered safety implications of the 24-hour city?
• Why is the economic/social/cultural role of civic entrepreneurs in the 24-hour city?
• How can local stakeholders speak out for the preservation and promotion of diversity and residential and visitor amenity?
• And what is the role of planning in the 24-hour urban economy, especially around questions of municipal regulation?

There will be three keynote addresses given by influential women working with the London environment, followed by interactive discussions between attendees and speakers.

Our three confirmed speakers are:

• Marion Roberts, University of Westminster
  "Living the 24-hour city - 48 hours in the life of Old Compton Street, Soho"
• Kimberley Paumier, Camden Council
  "Managing the 24-hour economy"
• Harriet Wilkins, Women's Design Service
  "Making safer places"

Marion Roberts (Central Cities Institute, University of Westminster) begins the session by leading us through 48 hours in the life of Old Compton Street in Soho. Roberts argues that Soho has provided Britain with its first experiment in 24-hour city living. She discusses how the originators of the 24-hour city concept encompassed an objective of creating town and city centres that are friendly to women and families. Her paper draws on the findings from a Leverhulme Foundation research project that she conducted during the summer of 2002 that captured video and sound recordings from the street. Her research established who was in the street, what was happening, and provides evidence for the assessment of conflicting claims over its meaning. She argues that the 24-hour city concept has been subverted away from its original inclusive aims into creating spaces dominated by a masculine drinking culture. She offers in her conclusion suggestions for reclaiming and modifying the 24-hour city concept.

Managing the 24-hour economy is the subject of Kimberley Paumier's (Camden Council) presentation on her work as Camden Town Manager. She addresses the problems of managing a 24-hour economy. She identifies the conflict between the demands of different users; the growth in the leisure market and simultaneous reduction in retail demand; the growth of a 24-hour market and increased 'vertical drinking' culture. She then discusses the initiatives used to address these problems: Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) for licensing/planning policy; through policies that encourage a mix of uses and diversify the evening economy; through crime and licensing initiatives; and improved street environments. She then concludes with some thoughts about partnership and the communication interface with the local community.

Harriet Wilkins' (Women's Design Service) talk will consider her policy development work on community safety in relation to the 24-hour city. She is currently working on a project called 'Making Safer Places' which was conceived by a consortium of three organisations: the Women's Design Service, Neighbourhood Initiatives and Crime Concern. The project looks at three urban centres: Manchester, Bristol and London, and her talk will consider the experience of Black and minority ethnic women, older women and disabled women in the 24-hour city of London.

Seminar Timetable

• 1.30pm Registration
• 2.00pm Presentations and questions
• 3.30pm Afternoon tea
• 3.45pm Discussion groups
• 4.45pm Summation

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