The Entertainment Zone: Unplanned Nightlife and the Revitalization of the American Downtown

Abstract

This paper describes informal, small-scale leisure and nightlife districts or entertainment zones (EZs) which have developed in or near the downtowns of mid-sized and large American cities in recent years. Occupying older vernacular buildings in marginal areas of downtown, the bars, cafes, restaurants, nightclubs and performance spaces of EZs have developed largely without the large-scale design, planning, government action or subsidy common in formal urban entertainment districts. EZs demonstrate the popularity, resilience and flexibility of small-scale, vernacular architecture and urbanism and its importance in generating a vibrant and diverse downtown. The paper documents the design and performative characteristics of EZs in American cities and locates these places within current urban design and development theory. The findings from a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, case study together with evidence from other entertainment zones indicate that EZs possess individuality and a vitality lacking in formal urban entertainment districts. The paper concludes with recommendations for designers, planners and policy makers to reform current urban entertainment development practices.

‘Scape’-based Forms: A Preliminary Review of Their Use in the Study of Tourism-related Activities

“…However, whilst not using that particular term, Dobni's (2006Dobni's ( , 2012 descriptions of business leisure, and Campo and Ryan's (2008) references to entertainment zones function as entertainmentscapes in all but name. In addition, a proliferation of empirical studies of North American and European inner cities exposes circumstances which, if not as purpose-designed districts, are extensions to conventional inner city districts with their function as night-time playscapes or nightscapes (Chatterton and Holland 2003).…”

Host community resignation to nightclub tourism

“…There are some descriptive studies about the nightlife in Taiwan (Huang, 2011), South London (Andersson, 2011), Belgrade (Todorovic & Bakir, 2005), Milwaukee (Campo & Ryan, 2008) and Los Angeles (Hong & Duff, 1997) and some studies on servicescape (Kubacki, Skinner, Parfitt, & Moss, 2007;Skinner, Kubacki, Parfitt, & Moss, 2008;Skinner, Moss, & Parfitt, 2005) as the only academic publications focusing on the analysis of this type of leisure tourism. With the only exception of the study of Andriotis (2005), asking for preferences for tourism development in a more general context in Crete, no research has been undertaken up to the present concerning the attitudes of the host community towards clubs and nightlife in sun and beach destinations as opposed to the case of casinos.…”

Neighbourhood change among creative–cultural districts in mid-sized US metropolitan areas, 2000–10

“…While EZs are characterized by an eclectic mix of buildings that may feel old, or be perceived as old by their (mostly younger) patrons (Campo & Ryan, 2008), nearly all the neighbourhoods identified in this survey contained buildings listed on the National Figure 1. Like many creative-cultural districts (CCDs), The Old Market in Omaha, Nebraska, is comprised primarily of repurposed warehouses and other formerly industrial spaces.…”

“…In all, 24 of the 102 CCDs carried an official special district designation, while 15 were classified as EZs because they were either identified as such by Campo & Ryan (2008), or exhibited typologies consistent with their conceptualization (see Appendix A). Agglomerations of creative and cultural amenities within CCDs, and other central city locations, are indicative of the strategic importance of centralized urban neighbourhoods in the creative-knowledge economy, despite advances in transportation and information technologies.…”

“…At night, as club-goers and pub-crawlers begin to crowd the pavements, the EZ is said to exude a boisterous party-like atmosphere (Campo & Ryan, 2008).…”