Conflicts of Liveability in the 24-hour City: Learning from 48 Hours in the Life of London's Soho

Abstract

The 24-hour city has been put forward as the urbane solution to many of the problems of the central city. As a development from the 24-hour city concept, the expansion of the night-time economy has become a contentious issue in neighbourhoods with established or expanding residential populations. This pilot research project focused on a small area in Soho, London, to examine in depth, over 48 hours, the extent and nature of the problems associated with the night-time economy. The investigation employed video surveillance to observe and record such problems. The study demonstrates that residents' complaints of unacceptable levels of noise, activity and waste can be substantiated. By contrast, detailed police statistics do not support a picture of exceptional crime. The main outcome of this investigation is to suggest that mixed-use, late-night centres are viable but emphasizes that they require more careful regulation and management in order to achieve comfortable liveability. The video recording technique also has the potential to provide objective evidence at licensing hearings.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Leverhulme Foundation in supporting this pilot project (reference F/00 439/B). They would also like to acknowledge the suport of Westminster City Council and its environmental health officers. Kismet Film Co. and Gorgeous Films kindly let the authors use their offices. Steve Tiesdell made some very helpful comments.

Notes

 1. The title of the conference had a question mark against it. Andy Lovatt has confirmed that the intention of the conference was critical.

 2. Interview with David Bieda, Meard and Dean Street Residents Association.

 3. “Perhaps this famously swinging city could swing for 24 hour a day, not come to a juddering halt, in all but a few exceptional places, one hour earlier than Cinderella's bedtime” (Moore, 2000).

 4. One of Whyte's undergraduate students—who described himself as ‘the Clauswitz of retail’—set up a company in 1979 used Whyte's time-lapse techniques to pioneer the study of consumer behaviour in supermarkets.

 5. This has been boosted following the government's recent announcement of a further £79 million investment in CCTV (Guardian, 2001).

 6. Aliis Kodis should be thanked for this painstaking work.

 7. Talk by Simon Milton, leader, Westminster City Council, to Government Office for London's ‘Late night London: responding to change’ seminar held on 6 June 2003 in City Hall.

 8. See Evening Standard news items, 6 March 1998, 21 July 1999.

 9. See Westminster City Council (2003).

10. Arrests broke down into the following categories (%): street crime, 4; assault, 7; theft, 14; wanted on warrant, 7; loitering, 9; drug possession, 19; drugs supply, 2; offensive weapons, 3; other, 35.

11. Interview with president, Soho Society.

12. Note of meeting with assistant commissioner Metropolitan Police, accompanying officers and M. Roberts, C. Turner, S. Greenfield and G. Osborne, University of Westminster, February 2002.

13. Interview with environmental health officer, Westminster City Council.

14. The concept of ‘need’ for a licensed premise within a locality has been abandoned. Currently, impacts have to be related to particular establishments.

15. See House of Lords debates, Hansard, 24 February 2003 (230224-18).

16. Interview with John Montgomery.

17. Interview with Justin O'Connor, 17 November 2002.

18. Interview with Ken Worpole, 19 November 2002.