Nocturnal futures: A necessary reflection in times of uncertainty

Abstract

This text serves as an epilogue of the special issue entitled Nocturnal Cities : Past, Present, and Future. The first part of the text below presents a series of research topics that are central to the interdisciplinary area of Night Studies, and whose objects of research and reflection can be referred to as ‘nocturnal urban futures’. The second half denounces the absence of ‘the night’ in the design of the so-called ‘15-minute city’, which is the main paradigm of ongoing urban development in many cities worldwide (especially from the Global North). The final section sheds light on the urgent community, institutional, industry and academic need for debating and discussing the role that the ‘nocturnal city’ should have in the construction of climate-neutral cities in the long-term future.