2.1.4 Human behavior during the day and night

Nocturnal terrain in metro cities

2.1.2 Nocturnal terrain in cities

Cities are alive during both day and night. Yet our ideas of urban realm usually limit itself to the hours of natural light. Contrary to the belief that buildings and urban areas sleep at night, the nocturnal terrain is no longer a passive phase. No matter their size or location, the cities are constantly struggling to accommodate different uses and to ease existing tensions between them. For example, while some hope that the growth of residential sectors in city centres will help address housing shortages, others believe it will pose a threat to nightlife venues and public spaces located in these areas, due to the new rules and regulations posed to control noise and other activities. The underlying problem is that most cities weren’t designed for darkness. From shifting temperatures from warm days to cool nights to alterations in the way we perceive colours and proportions, there are many sensory differences between day and night.

Modern cities of developed countries stay active after dark, and operate in 24-hour cycles of alternating activities of production, leisure and recondition/regeneration with indistinct temporal boundaries. Multiple factors have contributed to this change; these include patterns of work, household structures, and new forms of community. Altogether they have opened up the night to alternate possibilities, activities and forms of leisure (Roberts & Eldridge, 2009).

This fascination of night comes from references to tensions and liberties, pleasures and fears, regulation and chaos, disorder and control traditionally associated with it (Amin & Thrift, 2002). These notions are still part of our cultural imaginaries even though the night has much evolved during the 20th and first decade of the 21st century. Traditionally, a day was strictly divided into time of production during day and time of regeneration at night, when the cities and its inhabitants prepared themselves for the next day. Activities during the night were associated with danger and threat, criminality and immorality. However, current patterns of utilization of the night hours in cities have dramatically changed. Long-gone is the night solely experienced by people who have alternative, or transgressive lifestyles. In the current scenario in the modern world, cities are taking up endeavours that thrives to accommodate and shape the life of the ordinary city dweller and to give space to new modes of social relations.

Marian College of Architecture and Planning, Thiruvananthapuram 15