ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that both phenomena point towards an emergent area of fluidity in gender relations, suggesting that new paradigms of 'doing gender' and space in night-time town centres are becoming common place and that demands a fresh approach to gender sensitivity in town centre management and planning policies. Feminist activism around the night-time city provides a different but related challenge to gender norms and, if taken seriously, places fresh demands on policies and practices. The chapter considers changing cross-currents of evidence, political action and policy response through the lens of investigation into consumer responses to going out at night. It makes the argument that policymakers so far have confronted the challenges posed through campaigns that focus on female vulnerability. The chapter argues that an engagement with the techniques of gender mainstreaming would permit a deeper analysis of the spaces and places of the night-time city and in turn will provide a richer, more effective source of policy responses.
