Midlife, diversification, and inclusive town centres at night

The perception that young people and youth orientated venues dominate the nocturnal city has stimulated calls on the part of government to address the exclusion of specific demographics, particularly those who are midlife. Focusing on those now aged 40–65, this paper explores how policies concerned with diversifying nightlife engage with this ageing demographic. Drawing on both scholarly and policy literature, the discussion examines how a discourse of diversity, diversification and vibrancy frame ageing and urban centres after dark. Acknowledging this demographic is under-researched, the paper brings together diverse literatures from urban planning, gerontology and sociology with a view to question the ways diversity, nightlife, and ageing are articulated and deployed in British urban policy. The paper challenges a normative concept of the life course, and a simplistic approach to place on which calls for diversifying nightlife within urban centres often rest. It concludes with a call for a framework for future research which connects place identity and demographic diversity within this cohort to inform future policy initiatives.