City nights: The political economy of postindustrial urban nightlife.

摘要

This study examines the impacts that broad economic and political forces have had on neighborhoods in postindustrial cities. As urban economies have shifted from being production-based to consumption-based, industries that were peripheral to city growth, such as forms of entertainment (i.e. nightlife, shopping, cultural activities), are today central. As a result, city governments have taken great steps towards encouraging private investment in and economic development that is based on these sectors. The very physical and cultural makeup of the contemporary city has been reconfigured as city centers and downtowns have become sites for large-scale entertainment projects. Another significant development has been the construction of nightlife scenes in gentrifying neighborhoods. Through the case of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a formerly disinvested slum that has become one of New York City's premiere areas for nighttime entertainment in bars as well as a desired neighborhood for real estate actors and wealthy residents, this study analyzes the effects that "neighborhood nightscapes" have on the social relations, residents, and cultures in contemporary cities. While the development of nightlife and the intertwined processes of gentrification are often lauded as benefits for the improvement of neighborhoods and the growth of cities, an in-depth, critical analysis reveals a number of issues that they cause. New bars that have opened on the Lower East Side since the 1990s have formed dense concentrations throughout the neighborhood that emphasize the consumption of their nightlife experiences as well as material products. This has transformed the Lower East Side into a destination for a wide array of nighttime activities for new residents and visitors from both within and outside of the city. While neither a formal public-private partnership nor a state-led effort, its many bars opened as a result of a liquor licensing policy based on economic development and in conjunction with the city's consumption-based growth initiatives and the neighborhood's gentrification. New forms of social control have been implemented by the local state and police to handle disorderly conditions generated by nightlife scenes and protect urban nightlife's image as a place for safe consumption. For Lower East Side residents, however, the development of the nightscape has had significant negative impacts---damaging their quality of life, fraying their civic bonds with local government and communal bonds with business owners, and resulting in social and cultural displacement. As an example of a common urban development, the neighborhood nightscape of the Lower East Side serves as an analytical lens for understanding the local impacts of broad economic and political changes occurring in postindustrial cities.