MethodKit for Cities at Night was made in collaboration with Jordan Valentin-Lane.
—
WHY METHODKIT FOR CITIES AT NIGHT?
Cities do not stop when the sun goes down, they do however transform, change and evolve. How they make this transition into (and out of) the night is as diverse and unique as the cities themselves, some burst with vibrant nightlife as others grow silent. From night mayors to neighbourhoods, street food to social services, what are the elements that create a balanced and vibrant city at night?
While many tools for cities may focus on the city during daylight, we aim to readjust this balance by paying deliberate attention to life at night. By creating a common language and visual overview with which you can explore the unique environments, elements and opportunities that arise after dark, MethodKit for Cities at Night allows you to navigate the nocturnal, exchange knowledge and create a shared awareness not only about nightlife, but all life in cities at night.
Designed to be used as a stand-alone tool, or in combination with other kits, MethodKit for Cities at Night allows you to address the unique opportunities of the night, by providing you with the tools to design and plan for it today.
THE CARDS
THE ICONS
The icons have been crafted with usefulness and simplicity in mind. They are representations of the different parts of urban planning at night.
HOW TO USE
Designed to be used at all scales from citywide strategies to small interventions, MethodKit for Cities at Night offers you a visual overview of the unique environments, elements, actors and opportunities that arise after dark.
A few examples of how the kit can be used:
- As a planning tool between planners, politicians and its residents. Use the tool as an interface and bridge the gap between different groups. Are you speaking the same language? Do you understand each other? We want people to sit at the table, take part, and feel comfortable in understanding and sharing ideas.
- As a tool for in architects and urban design offices. Use the kit in the studio environment to align colleagues, consultants and clients. Use it to create future visions and scenarios or as a research tool and checklist. How do new projects address the nighttime? What are your priorities? Did you forget any important perspectives?
- As a tool for Night Mayors – If your city does not currently have a Night Mayor, why not use the kit to explore the possibility to appoint one?
- As a tool for creating a nighttime strategy – use the kit to define, prioritise and develop a nighttime strategy for your city. What elements are most important? What do the citizens feel? Explore the nighttime as a resource and space of opportunity! Without a nighttime strategy you are ignoring your city half of the time!
- As a tool for education and advocacy – Many citizens have a strong interest in what happens in their city at night. Use the tool to create exchange knowledge and create shared awareness about the nighttime with different perspectives and lenses. Knowledge is power.
- As a tool for policymakers – Use the tool to shift the focus from regulating the night to actively designing and planning for it! How can policy create a vibrant and healthy nighttime environment for all who enjoy, work, manage, live and visit our cities at night?
- As a tool for creative industries – Explore what it means to use the nighttime as your canvas. Where are the opportunities, pitfalls, allies and gatekeepers? Understand all life at night to further your creative pursuits.
- As a tool for academic research – Use the kit as a checklist for exploring and positioning research projects – where is your focus and how does it relate to the rest of the field? Are there any elements missing?
- As a tool for data collection. Use the tool for data collection. Find out what the city is made up of at night by using the cards as a visual framework for surveys and inventories.
Check out more general examples of how the cards can be used in workshops, at our How to use page. You can also read more about our thoughts on urban planning in our article The building blocks of the city.
