Nighttime Cities: Planning, Advocacy & Data

Learn about the global and local movements to reorganize policy, governance, planning, design, and community action to recognize the 24-hour functionality of the city. This talk will describe movements and concepts in Philadelphia and around the world through the lens of Michael Fichman's work - using data, music, and community action to build new models and catalyze change. Learn about the creation of the Philadelphia Night Time Economy Office, and new ideas springing from work with music communities, artists, workers, and policy-makers across the Globe.

Michael Fichman is an international leader in policy, research, and advocacy related to nighttime cities and nightlife arts and culture - a practice based on his 20 years in the music industry as a DJ, producer, composer and label executive. He is an editor and author of the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan, an influential multinational effort to support nighttime industries through the pandemic. He is a member of Philadelphia City Council’s Arts and Culture Task Force, where he proposed and designed Philadelphia's Nighttime Economy Office in 2021. Michael is a Lecturer in the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics (MUSA) program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design and Research Associate with PennPraxis.

If you require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, please email news@design.upenn.edu to let us know what you need. Please note, we require at least 48 hours’ notice. If you register within 48 hours of this event, we won’t be able to secure the appropriate accommodations.