Overview
It could be just a matter of time before Sydney follows in Amsterdam's footsteps and introduces its own 'night mayor', if a new report by the Commission for a Nighttime Economy is properly taken into consideration.
Set up by the Committee for Sydney, the commission's been hard at work finding potential solutions to Sydney's nightlife issues, gathering input from over 40 organisations as it looks at ways of boosting the city's nighttime economy in areas that aren't simply booze-related.
And this week it released its findings from 12 months of research, all of which have been compiled into Sydney as a 24-Hour City. The report delivers 22 recommendations for improving Sydney's nightlife scene, one of which calls for the "introduction of a coordinating figure to bring together different agencies and actors in the night-time economy" — perhaps to address the fact that only 46 percent of Sydneysiders that are satisfied with the current nightlife. This concept of a special night mayor has already proved a huge success in Amsterdam over the past few years.
Sydney's report also calls for extra public transport options in and around late-night entertainment areas, the introduction of dedicated nighttime precincts and the implementation of a 24-hour economy strategy, driven by the NSW Government. It also emphasises the importance of adding more options to Sydney's after-dark activities, and encourages cultural institutions to extend their opening hours and push back start times, citing London's First Thursdays gallery open nights and The Globe's midnight performances as examples.
"It is about creating the amenity of a genuine 24-hour city, where normal day-to-day activities such as shopping, visiting a museum, going to the gym or a public library become as normal at 10pm as they would at 10am," said the commission's co-chair, the Hon. Peter Collins AM QC. "We believe that there are substantial potential benefits to Sydneysiders having access to 24-hour services and amenities".
You can see the full report here.
Image: Andy Vermeulen/Destination NSW.