Receiving shadows: governance and liminality in the night‐time economy1

Abstract

This paper focuses upon the emergence of the night‐time economy both materially and culturally as a powerful manifestation of post‐industrial society. This emergence features two key processes: firstly a shift in economic development from the industrial to the post‐industrial; secondly a significant orientation of urban governance involving a move away from the traditional managerial functions of local service provision, towards an entrepreneurial stance primarily focused on the facilitation of economic growth. Central to this new economic era is the identification and promotion of liminality. The State's apparent inability to control these new leisure zones constitutes the creation of an urban frontier that is governed by commercial imperatives.