‘Urban safety, anti-social behaviour and the night-time economy’
| Author | Adam Crawford,John Flint |
| DOI | 10.1177/1748895809343390 |
| Published date | 01 November 2009 |
| Date | 01 November 2009 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Criminology & Criminal Justice
© The Author(s), 2009. Reprints and Permissions:
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ISSN 1748–8958; Vol: 9(4): 403–413
DOI: 10.1177/1748895809343390
‘Urban safety, anti-social behaviour and
the night-time economy’
ADAM CRAWFORD AND JOHN FLINT
Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, University of Leeds and
Sheffield Hallam University
Abstract
The contemporary city is a contested space and its governance
is the subject of complex global economic forces, local interests
and political struggles as well as a response to the changing face
of governing alliances in residential and commercial areas, forms
of consumption, commercially-generated crime and disorder and
cultural expressions of leisure. This article seeks to provide a thematic
introduction to the manner in which the regulation of contemporary
British cities has been influenced by concerns with tackling anti-social
behaviour and promoting civility. It argues that in governing urban
safety, the normative governmental agendas that seek to remoralize
and cleanse city spaces and promote certain values of appropriate
consumer-citizen, often clash with commercially-driven imperatives
to (excessive) consumption and the allure of cities, for some, as
places of difference that exhibit relaxed normative constraints; most
notably in the night-time economy. It argues that the manner in
which these forces are played out is conditioned by the interplay
between different actors and organizations, as both regulators and
regulated, some of whom have assumed new responsibilities in the
governance of urban safety. The resultant pressures have produced
mixed experiences of the city as a meeting place for loosely
connected strangers, as a place of indulgence and as a place of
cultural expression.
Key Words
anti-social behaviour • urban governance • alcohol-related disorder
• transgression • night-time economy 403
EDITORIAL
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