Young Urbanists present: Urbanism at Night
When the sun sets, and the city thrives: an afternoon webinar exploring Urbanism at Night
Date: Thursday 29 May 2025
Time: 15:30 - 17:00 (BST)
Location: Online via Zoom
Cities transform after dark. The night time economy, public realm, mobility patterns, safety perceptions, and cultural life all shift when the sun goes down. This online event will explore how urbanism can better respond to the needs, challenges, and opportunities of the city at night.
How are urbanists approaching this and what should we consider next?
The session will bring together perspectives from practitioners, policymakers and researchers to share how good urbanism can contribute to vibrant nightscapes, and inspire Young Urbanists to think about policy and place-based approaches for 24/7 cities.
Speakers
Simone D’Antonio
Simone D’Antonio is a Rome-based expert in night-time economy and sustainable urban development. As the Lead Expert of the URBACT network Cities After Dark, the first EU co-funded network of cities focused on night-time economy, he is coordinating the exchange of knowledge among 10 European cities and is supporting the participatory development of night policies and small-scale actions.
Simone has provided advice and guidance to several local authorities across the globe and contributed to the implementation and capitalisation of projects of urban innovation within the framework of EU-funded programs such as European Urban Initiative, Urban Innovative Actions, URBACT, Global Covenant of Mayors and Intelligent Cities Challenge.
Lutz Leichsenring
Lutz Leichsenring is a prominent figure in the global nightlife scene, widely known for his advocacy work towards promoting a thriving and sustainable nightlife culture. As the co-founder of VibeLab, Lutz seeks to develop innovative solutions for the challenges facing nightlife. VibeLab works globally with institutions like UN-Habitat and World Cities Culture Forum (WCCF) and developed the grassroots peer-to-peer learning "Night School", funded by the European Union.
VibeLab is currently advising the London Mayor's Office and its London Nightlife Task Force and is conducting Focus Groups and Interviews in May and June. The results will be presented in fall.
Lutz has co-led numerous initiatives to support and leverage young talent, and he is also the co-founder of NightSchool is a EU wide training programme designed to support night culture producers early in their career. In May 2023 he was recognized as one of the 100 most important minds of Berlin’s economy and received the 'Ambassador of the Night Award' of NTIA UK in 2024.
Andreina Seijas J.
Andreina Seijas J. is a researcher and international consultant with over 15 years of experience in urban development and public policy in Latin America, Europe and the United States. As the founder of Night Tank, a consultancy specialising in night-time urban planning and governance, she offers expert advice combining urbanism and night-time economies expertise. She has worked for organisations such as Gehl, IdenCity, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and has co-authored book chapters.
Andreina has taught urban planning and night-time governance courses at Harvard College and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (Cambridge), the Urban School at Sciences Po (Paris), and IAAC—the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (Barcelona).
In partnering with the Bartlett Development Planning Unit at University College London (UCL) This summer she will co-teach the London NightLab, a short course exploring the complexities of night-time urbanism.
