Co-opting the Night: The Entrepreneurial Shift and Economic Imperative in NTE Planning

Abstract

The City of Sydney Council has presented their night-time economy plan (NTE) – Open, Future directions for Sydney at night – as a unique and substantial contribution to global city planning literature. This paper critiques the plan and demonstrates how Open is strongly aligned with, and constrained by the neoliberal-inspired cultural-economy framework of the Council’s overarching policy vision: Sustainable Sydney 2030. Such co-opting of policy evinces an entrepreneurial shift in NTE planning where economic interests procure substantial voice in the consultation, and eventual policy directions of changing the nightscape. The paper explicates the economic imperative(s) of Open within the context of one inner city Sydney suburb, Surry Hills.

悉尼市政委员会提出了一份夜间经济计划（NTE），《开放——悉尼夜间的未来方 向》，为全球城市规划文献做出了独特而实在的贡献。本文对这一计划进行评论， 指出《开放》与市政委员会的总体政策愿景《2030 可持续悉尼》一脉相承，且都 受了新自由主义文化经济框架的影响。这样的政策表现出夜间经济计划实际上向 企业倾斜，咨询中听到的声音，以及最终改变城市夜景的政策方向，以经济利益为 主。本文以悉尼内城郊区苏利山（Surry Hills）为例，说明《开放》的经济至上 倾向。

Keywords:

• Night-time economy
• City of Sydney
• Surry Hills
• diversity
• consultation
• cultural-economy
• Sustainable Sydney 2030
• creative cities
• place-making

View correction statement:

Correction to: Wolifson and Drozdzewski, Co-opting the night: the entrepreneurial shift and economic imperative in NTE planning

Notes

1. Independent (not party-aligned) Clover Moore has been Lord Mayor of Sydney since 2004. She was also State Member of Parliament representing the Sydney electorate (2007–2012 and former “Bligh” electorate from 1988 to 2007). Moore’s challenging relationship with the NSW Liberal (conservative) Government is well known (McNeill, 2011).

2. In the authors’ words, the local government is referred to as “CoS” throughout the paper while the area itself, under CoS’ jurisdiction is referred to as the CoS. Quotations of CoS’ refer to their jurisdiction’s area as “Sydney”, for example in the five goals of Open, while in the authors’ words “Sydney” will refer to the broader metropolitan area. CoS, of which Surry Hills has been a part since 2003, operates under the jurisdiction of the NSW State Government.

3. These include “Creative City, cultural policy and action plan 2014–2024” and the “Visitor Accommodation Action Plan”. Others are underway.

4. These plans include the City of Melbourne’s Policy for the 24 h City; plans in Nairobi, Seattle, Pittsburgh, London and countless others throughout the UK (see Roberts & Eldridge, 2009).

5. This data is based on CoS’ Floor Space and Employment Survey for the “Crown and Baptist Streets Village” area which includes the majority of the suburb of Surry Hills and parts of Redfern and Moore Park (CoS, 2012a, p. 1)

6. The Ivy opened in December 2007 and first appeared on the NSW Government’s most violent venue list at the end of 2009. Since mid-2012, the Ivy has remained in the Level 1 category of violent venues, being the only venue under the Level 1 restrictions since mid-2013 (OLGR, 2014b).

7. Kings Cross being a late-night area often associated with anti-social behaviours.

8. The ABS does not provide data by Census Collection District for the latest Census in 2011. While Internet connection overall has understandably increased in the suburb between these Censuses, it is reasonable to assume that the broad trend identified here still stands.