MAKE Night Model: Building a Night-time Economy Strategy
No matter how big or small, towns and cities need a 24-hour vision
For over a quarter of a century we have argued that towns and cities need an holistic approach to the night. An approach which is fully integrated into the wider vision, planning, governance, design and measurement of cities, but which responds to the very specific needs of the urban after dark. For too long, the evening and night-time has been a poor relation in terms of how it is valued, resourced and celebrated; but it’s a relation we have continued to champion.
Suddenly, the night (and the crucially the evening too) are in the limelight. As retail shifts online, many high streets are being hollowed out, yet more and more people want to live in towns and cities. Places need to find new purposes, to balance competing needs and adapt to rapid urban change.
Recognising the value of the night…
That is why we created the MAKE Night Model – a process bringing together all the of components required to create an effective Evening and Night-Time Economy Strategy or 24-Hour City Plan.
The MAKE Night Model has been developed over 15 years as a response to what was then (and too often still is) a fragmented approach to creating a coherent outcome for the ENTE. Everyone knows where planning fits in, who is responsible for transport, for promoting economic development, for reducing crime or for developing the arts and who leads on city governance. But where does the evening and night fit in to that? There is rarely a night-time department (although this is finally changing) so the ENTE nearly always falls thought the cracks. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
A tried and tested process…
The MAKE Night Model is the most holistic process of understanding how cities work at night, how they integrate into the daytime and how they need particular care and bespoke strategies. The approach is flexible and modular, so you don’t need to repeat what you already have. But typically, we start with a mapping and data audit, engaging with that data to get under the skin of the local ENTE; build a process of engagement with all those interested parties (residents, politicians, artists and musicians, venue owners, planners, young people, destination marketing, the police, developers and landowners - to name just a few on our list of 100+ stakeholders).
A strategy built on evidence that can be delivered
Then comes the crunching of all that has been gathered, the gap analysis, followed by scenario testing and the visioning sessions, the action plans (with named organisations to deliver) that compliment and integrate with your place’s other policies and plans. Where’s the funding coming from? Who and what are the blockages? Where are the silos? How should projects be phased? What does success look like and how are we going to measure it? These are questions we answer on the way to creating a MAKE Night-time Strategy based on the MAKE Night Model.