There’s the “mayor”—the duly elected official responsible for municipal services. And then there’s the mayor. He’s the person everyone recognizes at the block party…and the one who probably organized it. She’s the one glad-handing parents at the school play and getting patted on the back in turn. Consider the “Unofficial Mayor of Green Bay” who wears Packers’ gear 365 days a year and has a newspaper and coffee brought to him when staying at the team’s hotel. These mayors have no formal authority, but they command respect and wield soft power in their respective communities. They’re the person “in the know.”
Now comes a third kind of mayor. Hoping to revitalize urban downtowns, a number of U.S. and international cities have appointed “night mayors”—a shorthand job title for positions such as director of nightlife and culture, as it’s called in Washington, D.C. According to Philadelphia magazine, some 70 cities globally have created a version of this job. Typically without legislative power or official clout, the night mayor has a hand in business development, public safety and advocating for night life, each of which has taken on more importance as cities continue to redefine themselves after the pandemic. The built environment, unsurprisingly, is also not immune from the night mayor’s touch, as our feature story “Life After Dark” (p.35) explains. Just as lighting design needs to be harnessed to protect wildlife and preserve the night sky, it should be directed toward the needs of urban dwellers and visitors.
Sometimes, there’s too much bureaucracy. But in this case, when good design is on the agenda, the more mayors the merrier.