From advocacy to policy: how did night governance evolve?
Welcome back to Nocturnal Cities — the Urbcast podcast series where we explore how urban life happens after dark, and what it means to govern the “other nine-to-five together with Andreina Seijas, urban night researcher and founder of Night Tank.
Today, we’ll look at the origins of nighttime governance as a global movement, and we’ll be introduced to the topic by two key figures who helped establish it:
Mirik Milan, former Night Mayor of Amsterdam, and Lutz Leichsenring, nightlife advocate and board member of Clubcommission Berlin.
Together, Mirik and Lutz have been instrumental in turning nighttime advocacy into real policy and practice and as a result co-founded VibeLab - a nighttime consultancy. They’ve helped cities around the world shift from managing nightlife reactively to thinking proactively about how to make urban nights safer, more inclusive, and more vibrant.
The evolution of nighttime governance
Andreina highlighted that the conversation and our series couldn’t happen without Lutz and Mirik, two of the field’s foundational figures. Mirik Milan was appointed as the first Night Mayor of Amsterdam in 2012, while Lutz has long been active in Berlin’s nightlife advocacy, serving as spokesman and executive board member of the Berlin Club Commission since 2009. Both have played instrumental roles in establishing the field’s legitimacy and in spreading its principles globally.
From Mirik’s perspective, the origins of Amsterdam’s approach to nighttime governance stretch back to 2003. A local politician, who would later become a board member of the night mayor foundation, recognized the disconnect between City Hall and the city’s nightlife sector. That recognition, combined with recurring crises—ranging from venue closures to tight regulation—galvanized a need for dialogue and reform. Amsterdam’s nightlife was seen as a cultural and economic driver, and a space for personal and professional transformation for many young creatives.
The turning point came in 2012 when Mirik was elected Night Mayor. Though independent and non-profit in structure, the role became increasingly professionalized. Under his leadership, the office established formal lines of communication with city authorities, nightlife operators, and local residents. The “holy triangle” of stakeholders—government, operators, and citizens—was born, with the Night Mayor mediating among them.
Meanwhile in Berlin, a similar grassroots movement had been brewing since the late 1990s. The Berlin Club Commission was founded between 1999 and 2000 in response to growing tensions between nightlife venues and the city administration, especially amid a spate of law enforcement raids. Lutz joined the movement in 2004 and stepped into a leadership role in 2009, just as the aftershocks of the global financial crisis began to reshape Berlin’s real estate landscape.
As Berlin’s economic recovery attracted new investment, many creative venues—often occupying temporary or informal spaces—found themselves displaced. Iconic clubs such as Bar 25 and Knaack Club were forced to close. Lutz's early advocacy involved organizing protests, petitions, and public awareness campaigns, sometimes with high-profile allies like David Hasselhoff and Roger Waters. Initially, only the tourism and creative industries departments were willing to engage. Yet Lutz and the Club Commission insisted on a broader recognition of nightlife as part of the city's cultural, social, and urban fabric.
Both stories present a common narrative: bottom-up advocacy turned into legitimate governance mechanisms through persistence, coalition-building, and policy engagement.
From parallel paths to VibeLab
Despite working in different cities, Mirik and Lutz eventually crossed paths and realized their efforts were part of a larger, shared movement. Their collaboration began in 2016 during the first-ever conference on nighttime governance, hosted in Amsterdam. This event, called the Night Mayor Summit, was a landmark moment.
Mirik recalled going to Amsterdam’s then-mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, and proposing a parallel event to the official EU mayoral conference taking place at the time. The mayor supported the idea, marking a significant institutional endorsement of the field. The summit brought together global practitioners and thinkers, creating a forum for shared strategies and collective vision.
This encounter was also the beginning of VibeLab, the consultancy and think tank co-founded by Lutz and Mirik. They recognized a shared mission: to push beyond local advocacy and provide strategic insights, data-driven tools, and policy frameworks to cities around the world.
Mirik emphasized that what connected them was not just shared goals but also complementary strengths. Lutz brought an ability to challenge established thinking and offer fresh perspectives—an essential trait in a field that seeks to disrupt traditional urban planning paradigms.
From advocacy to policy – and the power of data
As the conversation wrapped up, Lutz and Mirik made clear that their work is about far more than promoting nightlife. At its core, nighttime governance is about inclusion — ensuring that those without a voice at the table are still represented in the decisions that shape urban life after dark.
This ethos stems from their roots in advocacy. But as their impact grew, so did their ambition: they no longer wanted to merely protest from the outside — they wanted a seat at the policymaking table. VibeLab, the consultancy they co-founded, embodies this transition. It supports cities in rethinking nighttime governance and gives them access to tools, research, and data to better understand and shape the night.
Real-world innovation: 24-hour licences in Amsterdam
A key example of their approach was the introduction of 24-hour venue licences in Amsterdam. The logic was simple but powerful: instead of releasing thousands of people into the streets all at once, staggered venue closing times would reduce pressure on public infrastructure and neighborhoods. This move wasn't just logistical — it was political. It demonstrated how thoughtful governance could improve safety, cultural vibrancy, and the urban experience.
But as Mirik emphasized, change starts small. Cities often say, “That could never happen here,” but all it takes is a first step — a willingness to test new ideas, informed by evidence and driven by collaboration.
Data that reflects community, not just commerce
Lutz shared how a pivotal meeting at the Berlin Chamber of Commerce inspired a shift in thinking. He realized that many policymakers had no meaningful understanding of the city’s creative life. They didn’t grasp what club culture meant, or how vital these spaces were to Berlin’s identity. So he set out to build a data-based language they could understand — not just economic metrics like job creation or tourism revenue, but indicators that reflect why nightlife matters: art, community, space, and cultural production.
This was the birth of the Creative Footprint methodology — a framework to measure and map creative space in cities. Inspired by concepts like the carbon footprint, it aims to track not just how creative spaces are used, but how they're lost — to displacement, gentrification, and regulatory neglect.
The idea: if you cut down a tree, you plant another. Shouldn’t cities treat cultural space with the same care?
Global reach, local relevance
The Creative Footprint has now been applied in eight cities, including Tokyo, New York, Berlin, Montreal, Sydney, Stockholm — and, most recently, Copenhagen. It provides a way to benchmark urban nighttime ecosystems — but more importantly, it highlights the cultural and social dimensions of the night.
For VibeLab, a healthy nighttime economy isn’t just about bars and clubs. It’s about what happens inside them — music, spoken word, literature, art. And this content shapes behavior: people who go out for culture tend to act differently than those simply seeking consumption.
Still, many scenes are funded by things like alcohol sales, so balancing vibrancy with safety, inclusion, and sustainability is key. Cities need not only venues — they need infrastructure, education, and capacity-building for the creative ecosystem to thrive.
Social cohesion after dark
As Mirik put it, the night is where “the most progressive, forward-thinking and open-minded” parts of society gather. And in a world facing polarization and fragmentation, these moments of cohesion matter. The night becomes a space where people connect across difference — where art, not algorithms, shapes collective experience.
You can watch and listen here:
COVID-19: a disruption and a catalyst
The conversation then turned to the pandemic. Around 2018–2019, Mirik and Lutz had mapped the rise of dedicated nighttime governance offices across the globe — most still young, underfunded, and staffed by people with more passion than policy power. Then came COVID-19.
The shutdown was devastating. Cities like Berlin — whose economies rely heavily on cultural industries — came to a sudden halt. But out of the crisis came creativity. The Berlin Club Commission launched a streaming platform and donation campaign on the very day of lockdown — a powerful example of how cultural communities can pivot to survival and solidarity.
United We Stream: a global response born in Berlin
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when cities fell silent and club doors were shuttered, a powerful grassroots campaign emerged from Berlin. Known as United We Stream, the initiative began with livestreams of performances from empty clubs, sending a poignant message: the nightlife scene, essential to cultural and economic life, was in crisis and needed urgent support.
Over 90 consecutive nights, 90 Berlin clubs took part, ultimately raising €800,000 through donations. The campaign, supported by VibeLab, quickly gained traction worldwide, spreading to 120 cities and raising a total of €2 million. Beyond financial aid, it spotlighted the vital role nightlife plays in urban ecosystems—not only as entertainment but as hubs for community, safety, and cultural expression, particularly for marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community.
A collaborative recovery effort
In May 2020, as the scale of the crisis became clearer, VibeLab and its partners—including Mirik, Andreina, and Michael Fitchman from the University of Pennsylvania—began crafting what would become the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan. This effort brought together over 70 contributors from academia, government, and nightlife practice in a fully remote, voluntary collaboration.
The resulting seven-chapter research report served as both a recovery strategy and a policy blueprint. It documented the challenges faced by nighttime economies and highlighted the glaring lack of resilience and public support in times of crisis. The report emphasized the need for cities to appoint dedicated representatives—“crisis managers” of sorts—for nightlife sectors. It became clear that these spaces were not just leisure venues but emotional lifelines and chosen families, particularly for those without nearby support networks.
Building global networks of nighttime governance
One of the enduring legacies of the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan is the formation of a global knowledge-sharing network among night mayors, club commissions, and cultural leaders. VibeLab facilitated a WhatsApp group where new appointments to nightlife governance roles can instantly connect with peers around the world. This open-source, peer-driven model echoes the spirit of nightlife itself—built on countless unseen “dirty hours” of love and labor.
Nightlife, as VibeLab insists, thrives on mutual support, diversity, and shared experience. The pandemic acted as a springboard, accelerating progress in policy and funding. However, significant challenges persist. Gentrification remains one of the most pressing. Nightlife often leads the revitalization of underused industrial spaces, only to be displaced once these areas attract real estate investment. As urban land prices soar, clubs and cultural venues often become victims of their own success.
Nightlife as urban catalyst and casualty
The dual role of nightlife—as both a driver of and casualty to urban development—is increasingly recognized in city planning circles. Yet the need to balance cultural vibrancy with real estate economics remains unresolved. Cities are beginning to reckon with the broader shifts in demand: reduced appetite for retail and office space and increased interest in multipurpose venues.
Modern nightlife is no longer just about dancing into the early hours. People now seek a broader array of nighttime offerings—film screenings, art exhibitions, community gatherings. The most resilient venues, research shows, are those that serve multiple purposes: bar, gallery, co-working hub—even, in one Amsterdam case, a kindergarten. This 24-hour approach to space usage is not only efficient—it’s essential to survival.
Behavioral shifts are also evident. Younger generations often favor earlier socializing hours or hybrid digital and in-person interactions. At the same time, climate change and global work patterns are shifting professional life into the night. VibeLab, as a remote company with staff in Berlin, Amsterdam, Sydney, Montreal, and India, embodies this new nocturnal rhythm.
Protecting third spaces: a new urban imperative
In this evolving landscape, VibeLab champions the concept of “third spaces”—venues that are neither home nor work, but vital zones for community, creativity, and social exchange. These spaces are increasingly rare and under threat, but they are essential for democratic urban life and mental well-being. Preserving them is now one of VibeLab’s core missions.
Real estate trends are pushing cities into a period of transformation. As demand for retail and office properties declines, questions loom over how to repurpose inner-city spaces. Many of these high-value properties may need to undergo cycles of bankruptcy before their rents become viable for cultural use. Nightlife advocates must claim a seat at the planning table to ensure cultural voices are heard in these decisions.
In many cities, however, these decisions are still made behind closed doors by powerful stakeholders. Nightlife governance must move beyond bureaucratic management into active city planning. Representation in urban policy discussions is critical, not just to fill service gaps but to shape resilient, inclusive futures.
Nighttime - courtesy of VibeLab
Nightlife as innovation space
The pandemic also revealed nightlife as a space for innovation. When clubs and venues shut down, communities found new ways to fulfil the social and creative functions these spaces once held. This absence clarified their value—not just economically, but socially, environmentally, and emotionally.
Urban life depends on a complex web of formal and informal networks. Night-shift workers and cultural producers are as critical to city function as any daytime institution. Despite this, misconceptions persist.
Demystifying the night: from advocacy to policy
Nightlife has long been demonized, dating back to ancient cultural prejudices. VibeLab’s mission includes actively demystifying the night by bringing together stakeholders, collecting evidence, and influencing policy. Currently, between 80 to 100 cities are engaging with nighttime governance, yet systemic challenges remain.
Most pressing is the rigid daytime orientation of city governance. Nightlife needs spaces to experiment, affordable and accessible venues where communities can thrive. Planners and policymakers must ask: how much space are we allocating to innovation, and how does nightlife fit into placemaking?
Capacity-building and peer-to-peer learning are foundational. VibeLab’s Night School project, involving 15 creative producers from across Europe, exemplifies this. Participants gained insights from experts across social, economic, and sustainability disciplines, sharing practices and forming a knowledge network.
Reimagining safety and inclusion
Safety remains a critical concern, especially from a global perspective. The pandemic reinforced that “global” must include voices from the Global South. One standout project, Neighborhoods for All, developed with UN-Habitat, aimed to make urban spaces safer for women and girls, particularly at night. It focused on community-driven solutions, ensuring that people take ownership of their environment and feel intrinsically motivated to maintain its safety.
Ultimately, sustainable change in nighttime governance will depend not just on cultural advocacy, but on embedding these perspectives into urban policy and planning frameworks. Resources, representation, and respect are key.
Governance that balances structure and freedom
One of the most nuanced challenges in building nocturnal cities is finding the right governance structure. As Lutz explained, the night demands both structure and freedom. This tension requires a governance model that is cross-departmental and responsive to the needs of diverse stakeholders—from partygoers to residents. Effective nighttime governance, therefore, must be interdisciplinary, involving not just law enforcement or city planners, but also cultural producers, public health experts, and local communities.
Critically, both guests pointed out the importance of regulatory gray zones—areas where not everything is strictly governed, allowing for experimentation and organic growth. However, they also acknowledged that some regulation is necessary, particularly in markets like real estate, to ensure that freedom doesn’t come at the expense of equity and public interest. This balance remains elusive and complex, especially as night governance is still a relatively young field globally.
The power of global knowledge sharing
While every city faces unique challenges, many nighttime issues are universal: complaints about noise, the need for public safety, and debates about whom the city is for after dark. For this reason, both Mirik and Lutz stressed the value of international collaboration—sharing case studies, policy frameworks, and best practices across borders. As Mirik noted, “You don’t have to reinvent the wheel; you just have to adapt it in a good way.”
Despite differences in corruption levels, social norms, or infrastructure between the Global North and South, many underlying tensions around the night remain consistent. These shared experiences offer fertile ground for learning and innovation, especially when local solutions are globally informed.
Some key thoughts to sum up with
The power of grassroots advocacy
local voices can drive systemic change
peer-to-peer learning, collaboration, and openness to continued growth was echoed by all.
What’s next in the Nocturnal Cities series?
This episode is the first of a special Urbcast series co-hosted by Marcin and Andreina. In the coming episodes, we will be joined by experts from around the world—practitioners, academics, policymakers, and creatives—who are all shaping the narrative of what the night can and should be in our cities.
Stay tuned—and until next time, remember:
Carpe Noctem. Seize the night. Let’s make our cities better, after dark.
🌙 This episode is part of a special Urbcast series on nighttime governance, co-designed by Andreina Seijas, international consultant and researcher and the founder of Night Tank. Follow the podcast for upcoming episodes and join the conversation.
