The Barcelona Night Forum International, a pioneering event held at the Fundació Joan Miró, brought together nearly 200 participants from cities worldwide to emphasize the importance of nightlife as a fundamental element for the future development of urban areas.
The Commissioner for the Night of the City Council, Carmen Zapata, stated during the closing that "the night is acquiring a new centrality in our cities" due to social, cultural, and economic changes, as well as the impact of climate change on urban policies.
Zapata argued that the night "is much more than nightlife and urban logistics," encompassing culture, economic activity, mobility, creativity, coexistence, work, care, and gender perspective, responding to the diversity of nocturnal users.
The forum stressed the need to build alliances between administrations, the private sector, cultural agents, neighborhood associations, the scientific community, and citizens to address nocturnal challenges.
Representatives from cities such as Amsterdam, Krakow, Vienna, Berlin, Malmö, Paris, Manchester, London, Buenos Aires, New York, Sydney, Shanghai, Santo Domingo, and Bogotá shared experiences on how data and learnings can make cities more resilient to climate change.
In the debate on urbanism and culture, the role of the "change agent" was highlighted to ensure new urban plans consider neighborhood rest and cultural activities, an aspect that Barcelona has begun to incorporate in the future development of the Fira de Montjuïc.
Other roundtables discussed sustainability and new nocturnal uses, safety and gender perspective, the need for public night managers, and the importance of governance and mediation for the urban night. It was emphasized that the understanding of the economic and social value of the night by the population and local governments changes their approach.
Finally, the need to implement improvements in nocturnal public transport to make the various activities that occur at night compatible was recalled, as has been done in recent years.
