London is one of the most vibrant, cultured, global cities in the world. But anyone who’s pounded down a couple beers in the last minutes before midnight or sprinted to catch the last train realizes that London is not what you’d call a “24-hour city.”
However, that may soon change. London Mayor Sadiq Khan along with Chair of Night Time Commission Philip Kolvin QC and Night Czar Amy Lamé have unveiled a plan to turn London into a “leading 24-hour global city.”
The plan’s ten principles call on London to:
Be a global leader.- Provide vibrant opportunities for all Londoners, regardless of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation or means.
- Promote all forms of cultural, leisure, retail and service activity.
- Promote the safety and wellbeing of residents, workers and visitors.
- Promote welcoming and accessible nightlife.
- Promote and protect investment, activity and entrepreneurship.
- Promote domestic and international visits to London.
- Be strategically located across London to promote opportunity and minimize impact.
- Become a 24-hour city that supports flexible lifestyles.
- Take account of future global and domestic trends in leisure, migration, technology, employment and economics.
Evidently, this plan is not focused solely on bars and nightclubs. The architects of this strategy are working to not only make the city safer at night on all fronts, but also to make London more accessible at night for all manner of activities and for all manner of patrons.
The announcement from the mayor’s office also makes note that the expanded opening hours they are trying to encourage are, in part, a reaction to the business rate increase that has put a strain on the city’s businesses, particularly the nightlife economy.
These actions fit a pattern that Khan began with creating and expanding Night Tube service to expand London’s £26 billion night time economy that the city says employs “one in eight jobs in the capital and is set to grow in the coming years.”
Read the full press release plus all the statements by all the important people here.
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