"Defamiliarization" — the artistic technique of looking at the familiar in an unfamiliar way to gain a new perspective. When that technique migrates from art to the city, it becomes a key to innovation, unlocking new possibilities within the routines of everyday life.
That is precisely what cities around the world are doing now: defamiliarizing the urban night in search of a breakthrough for economic recovery.
Starting with Amsterdam in 2003, cities from Paris and New York to London and Sydney have raced to launch what might be called the 21st-century urban experiment of the night economy. Rather than competing for space in the daytime — a canvas already crowded with countless initiatives — they turned their attention to the night, an uncharted stretch of hours. What had long been treated as a time of entertainment, drinking, regulation and enforcement began to be rewritten as a second chapter of civic life, one defined by culture, leisure and a distinct urban character.
These urban experiments have shown that the night can be reimagined as a core driver of social stability and job creation, not merely a backdrop for culture and tourism. A night economy report released at this year's World Economic Forum annual meeting estimated the global night economy at between $3 trillion and $4 trillion a year — roughly 3 percent of world GDP. The report added that one in every 10 employed people worldwide is connected to the night economy.
Seoul has now joined this nocturnal experiment under the banner of a "24-hour vibrant economy city." Building on its reputation as a city that is safe day and night, the initiative aims to stimulate cultural activity, leisure and consumption after 6 p.m. to boost sales in neighborhood commercial districts and revive the local economy. The city has also unveiled a blueprint to grow annual nighttime consumption to 5 trillion won ($3.68 billion) within five years, ushering in a golden era for Seoul tourism.
With high prices, high interest rates and a weak won squeezing consumer spending and dimming the lights of small businesses one by one, generating the consumer demand that can keep neighborhood shops alive is an urgent livelihood challenge that transcends the ruling and opposition parties — one that all of society must roll up its sleeves to address. If tourists can be drawn into the alleyways and storefronts of all 25 of Seoul's autonomous districts, the night economy can grow beyond a tourism event into a livelihood policy that residents feel in their daily lives.
However, for the night economy to take root as a sustainable growth engine rather than remain a passing experiment, we must first acknowledge that the urban night has never been empty. The maintenance of bus and subway cars and tracks after service ends, the cleaning and repair of streets — all of this happens at night.
The night economy also inevitably brings night labor. Behind every new job created, the health, safety and rights of night workers — staff at cultural and commercial facilities, restaurant workers, bus drivers, cleaners, security guards and safety personnel — must not be overlooked. This is precisely why cities that pioneered the night economy invested heavily in mediating conflicts among merchants, residents and workers before pushing their policies forward.
Protecting the time needed to keep the city safe and safeguarding the workers who make that possible are not brakes on the night economy — they are the safety mechanisms that allow the policy to run longer and reach further. The Seoul Metropolitan Council will weigh the burdens of the night alongside its possibilities, and work to chart a path for a Seoul-style night economy that every resident can embrace.
7toy7@heraldcorp.com
