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24/7 Cities: A Perspective From Liverpool

Enthralling, exhilarating, alive, dynamic, vibrant, all terms regularly used to describe really good cities. Add 24-7, the city that never sleeps comes to mind, and the metropolitan vision is complete. Every city now, with any ambition, must have a 'strategy' to ensure that their cities are active '24-7'. Fine, but there have been some truly excruciating interpretations on what this means - and even more damming - attempts to implement and become one.

But what is a great 24/7 city? In Britain this has largely boiled down to letting the bars open through the night. If this was the case then every dour market town could now title itself as a great metropolis that never sleeps. One only has to visit any town centre in the UK of a weekend to see the serious consequences of taking a one dimensional approach to the 'Night-time' economy…a little bit of Manhattan? More like Sodom and Gomorrah!

Liverpool city centre café

Last year the Government launched a report 'Evening economy and the urban renaissance', but in Liverpool, sadly, it looks as if the concepts in the report have gone over the heads of policy makers in the same way that other solid urbanist advice from bodies like the Urban Task Force so despairingly have before. In Liverpool, the domination of bars at present is in part the responsibility of the city council for being profligate with licences in their rush to be a '24 hour' city. That stilted and one-dimensional interpretation was always pretty wide of the mark. Whilst there is nothing wrong with clubs and bars etc, diversity borne of a healthy economy really is the key to providing a truly great metropolitan experience. In New York, the consummate 24-hour city, it seems that everything is indeed open day and night, except for the bars!

Whilst downtown Liverpool does have more than its fair share of activities in comparison to most other cites in the U.K. Liverpool is a big city, with a long tradition of running as such, we mustn't be complacent. As the report highlights, we are still a long way from having the type of broad based environment that we see in continental or even many North American cities In Spain and Italy the streets only start coming to life at 10p.m. when civilised activity is the norm. Football matches are often still being played at midnight and this isn't confined to just the Rome, Madrid, Barcelona and Milan as this activity occurs in towns and villages across the continent. Many small towns are much more 'vibrant' than even the biggest of British cities!

Nor is it a case of the more amenable climate. Copenhagen and Oslo are as equally animated; they just dress for the weather. What makes these places hot beds of sophisticated socialising, where in Britain we tend to equate the evening with the sordid and squalid?

Recent news that a major International casino chain is interested in opening a Liverpool complex brings back to mind calls in 2003 by the NWDA (in response to the report mentioned above) for casino development to be encouraged, at the time Downtown Liverpool put out a press release welcoming the opportunity for downtown through relaxing rules about casino operation, but cautioned that this would only work as part of a wider move to diversify downtown's evening economy and leisure offer.

Casinos and other gaming initiatives can bring major investment and ongoing revenue when done correctly. They could create a new customer base for downtown and its current cultural and other attractions. For Liverpool to attempt to do a 'Las Vegas' though would just shuffle the economy over from one primary sector to another, failing to increase downtown's attractions in a way that would defeat the point of encouraging them.

Echoing calls made at the time of the Government report by Chester M.P. Christine Russell, downtown is about much more than retail of a day and drinking at night. We need to see if we can encourage other facilities to open in the evening and explore what business and new services can be provided later too.

Liverpool is a fantastic city and downtown at night has always been buoyant but we should always search for new ways of making it even better. There are tremendous opportunities for the city to encourage a more sophisticated night-time economy. The very best cities attract a hugely diverse range of users through the wide number of niche markets they cater for. Increasing the number of casinos is just one way of helping this along, but there must be more diversity.

Liverpool city centre niche retail

Only concentrating on facilities themselves however, would still be insufficient. It has been plain for years now that the evening economy and environment will only mature when all needs and opportunities are considered with regards to how we develop downtown. Major increases in population levels, (which has its own diversification needs, to cater for family living), produce opportunities [see this article on Cincinnati] that are at present woefully under-exploited, and sorting out the appallingly bad public transport links around the city centre are as important as attracting new activities in themselves.

Good moves have been made with regards to policing, cleansing and extending things like library opening times, we need to ratchet things up another level or two now. Also, with the internationalisation of the economy it means that many more business now can, and many need to, operate around the clock. If Liverpool is to truly return to anything like its former dominance then finance will play an essential part of this, and the financial houses never close! All of these companies need secondary and tertiary support that creates more late night workers. This is in fact another good sell for downtown as could you imagine the boredom working like this on an 'edge city business park'?

Downtown diversity has a 'dampening', civilising, effect on the excesses of those out partying. There is also the comfort of knowing that should you hit trouble then help is available through there being more people around. If people inclined to uncivil behaviour feel that their excess will be witnessed, ridiculed, or reported, they are likely to temper their inclination! You can only get this if there are hundreds of apartments overlooking the street, offices that are still staffed and other establishments generating 'normal' activity.

Building a REAL 24 Hour Metropolis

Of course, we only need to check out our own city's pre-war economy to see how a truly 24 hour metropolis, both within a leisure context as well as the general commercial aspect works…the city just never stopped! Manchester and Newcastle may now be good party cities, but Liverpool has always been Mardis Gras in comparison!

How did Liverpool function when there where tens of thousands of families living downtown, more thousands working, all whilst living in the midst of the longest and greatest Sailortown party on the face of the Earth? The important element that made it work, and continues to work in cities that still retain a genuine 24 hour dimension, was the simple fact that no one single group owned exclusivity of the public realm. The tide and the need of maritime commerce dictated the body-clock of the city, not the factory hooter or municipal paper chase!

The key to having a truly vital 24 hour city is rooted in the practice of good urbanism. Good urbanism is vital as it leads to good 24-hour cities. Mixing use is a fundamental building block of the real city. Of course, it also provides the building blocks for sustainable economic growth! Good urbanism is City building. Liverpool once was a 'mini Manhattan on the Mersey'; As teeming, as vibrant, as complex and as exhilarating. Exploring how Liverpool can become a healthy metropolis with a strident 24-hour economy will help us to become the 'New Manhattan on the Mersey'

Like many aspects of the downtown renaissance, evolving a more sophisticated night time or 24 hour economy will be dependent on assisting 'pioneers' who will go in and establish the structures, whilst there is only speculative or weak demand, but is essential in providing the floor to build up from.

Buildings that are capable of changing use through out the day, offering what is most appropriate, whether through the day, or into the evening and night-time ensuring that the downtown street stays alive and animated.

Traffic exclusion has an important role to play in this, as permeability helps people to get from place to place. Who the hell enjoys walking through the pedestrian 'retail zone' of Church St, once the shops are shut and the only people on the street are drunks? One of the most important pre-conditions, and one of the greatest benefits to be had from de-zoning, is generating an atmosphere of safety. If this is reached then even wider activities can be stimulated that make the environment safer still. The more people, undertaking as wide a range of activities as possible to generate is what makes for really sound 24 hour cities. Work, leisure and pleasure, leads to vibrancy, safety and wealth!

And, of course, a hefty downtown residential presence, with families making up a significant section of the numbers is an essential part of the mix.

Downtown is, of course, intimately associated with those edgy, slightly seedy and sometimes dangerous activities of the night. Unattractive personalities and underworld characters inhabit the nether world between crime and 'respectable' society. It always has, it always will. In many ways this is part of the attraction. Downtowns give the chance to witness all facets of society, without having to become involved, though there is always the danger of getting dragged into something. Again, part of the excitement!

These activities take place in the most celebrated cities too. It is downtowns unique ability to be able to accommodate many different activities and groups in a common area whilst retaining their own exclusivity.

A 24-hour city economy is about much more than allowing the bars to open throughout the night… much, much more!

All text and images © 2004 The Downtown Liverpool Organisation
http://www.downtownliverpool.org

The independent, not-for-profit urbanist think tank for Liverpool, UK.