Individuals and organizations facing the night. From new practices to a new urbanism

International audienceLost dimension of the city, the night has been for long this space and time completely left to fears and fantasies. Times are changing. The former nocturnal border is now a heart. European nights light up. Conflicts increase between individuals, groups and districts of the multiple-times city. Within insecurity and freedom, these transformations require people and organizations to adapt themselves in new forms. As a fleeting and cyclic territory, the night has become a great field of experimentation and exploration for researchers and authorities, and a place for renewal, innovation and creativity for the community. Based on international research programs, current works and regular night crossings, our proposal focuses on the new nocturnal practices of mobility and consumption in European cities, the answers brought by local actors to ease conflicts, and the conditions for the emergence of a new nocturnal playground and worksite and a new form of mundane urbanity overtaking festive events. New methods, organizations, knowledge and arrangements emerge from the night as a low density space and time, but yet a wonderful laboratory for the diurnal city. And beyond, the experience of the night leads to imagine the rules for a sensitive urbanism, caring to people and irrigating the day: quality, hospitality, ergonomics of public spaces and transport ; gender and territories equality ; diversity ; surprise and enchantment. While the society reconsiders its nychthemeron, we propose to move from a diurnal and rational thought to a nighter thought, for a city calling our sensibility, emotions and affects