‘Alright on the Night?’ Envisioning a ‘Night-time Economy’ in the Thames Gateway

It has become increasingly recognised, London wide (GLA, 2005; New Start, 2005), nationally (ODPM, 2005) and internationally (Chatterton and Holland, 2003; Marshall, 2004; Hobbs, 2003, p. 2; Hobbs et al., 2003, pp. 25-8; Zukin, 1991; O’Connor and Wynne, 1996) that the quality of life – or ‘liveability’2 as Department of Communities has it – in a town, borough, a region, or even in a particular street, must include a sense of the quality of the night life.