With the rise of the 24-hour city concept, city nights have become more and more important to urban life today. Thanks to the promotion of hi-tech lighting and intelligent control know-how in recent years, Shanghai has proactively seized the opportunity of large-scale international conferences and events and vigorously built its urban night scenes, making rapid progress in the process. Urban renewal with the goal of creating a night artistic conception with Shanghai characteristics has now become an inevitable choice for China’s largest commercial city. "Night Shanghai" of the new era reflects a new face of Shanghai as an international metropolis, changing from "brightening the city" at the start to pursuing the formal beauty of the night scene and to establishing a unique artistic conception and tapping into its inherent value at present. The urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" has brought a new sense of design, fashion and literary style to all the streets and alleys of Shanghai at night, while arousing a new public desire to experience and reflect on the urban scenery. It can meet people's artistic expectations of Shanghai and enhance their quality of life and sense of happiness.

The urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" leads the way of lifestyle renewal

Urban construction in Shanghai has promoted a shift of urban artistic conception from day to night and realized a change from urban spatial planning to resident lifestyle shaping. When people mentioned "Night Shanghai" in the past, it was more of an entertainment idea. The urban artistic conception aims to shape "Night Shanghai" into upgraded night lifestyles that can showcase Shanghai’s character as an "open, innovative and inclusive city" and deliver comfortable life, ultimate service and quality experience.

Seizing the special trait of the new generation of young people in Shanghai, the urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" aims to add new charms to the "night youth". For those Shanghainese who were born in the 1990s and 2000s, nightlife is no longer merely about pastime or relaxation. After their fast-paced work during the day, they need more "artistic space" between home and office at night. The charms of "Night Shanghai" lie in its emotional atmosphere and unique social attributes. In such an "artistic space", the young people can not only feel the urban environment after the lights are lit up, but also experience the urban atmosphere presented by the integration of lighting art and technology. They will be able to enjoy both the mere release of passion and the spiritual experience brought by urban culture. Shanghai’s exclusive fashion character is effectively integrated into the artistic conception of “Night Shanghai”. Creatively activated and reshaped in a youthful way, "Night Shanghai" is practically turned into a palette for young people in Shanghai to concoct their colorful lives.

Boosted by the national fitness policy, there is a growing health awareness among the general public. In recent years, night running, night riding and other evening outdoor sports have all sprung up rapidly in Shanghai. With unique "Shanghai characteristics", they have become fashionable ways for local people to get fit. By improving the environmental landscape and functionality, the urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" enhances environmental quality and comfort and better meets the people's needs for night exercises. The iconic images created along the Huangpu and Suzhou rivers, 24-hour parks and other landmarks not only provide a spatial atmosphere of harmony and comfort for residents to exercise at night, but also promote people to form positive emotions in the exercise process, eliminate low mood and achieve true physical and mental health. In "Night Shanghai", exercising is not only a way of getting fit, but also an attitude towards life and a value orientation of pursuing healthy lifestyles.

The urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" guides the upgrading of cultural formats

The establishment of the urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" has further promoted a change of cultural venue management thinking in Shanghai. It has now become a common practice for museums, bookstores and theaters, which are essential urban venues to meet people's cultural consumption needs at night, to open at night. Against a backdrop of industrial transformation and upgrading, the urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" has become an important driving force for a new round of cultural consumption upgrading in Shanghai, catalyzing the change and development of cultural and tourism business formats.

First, night museum tours. As an important carrier of urban culture, museums feature profound cultural heritage, rich cultural relic exhibits and diversified experience activities. As such, they are popular venues for residents and tourists to experience culture and get relaxed. The night tours of various museums in Shanghai are not merely an extension of daytime visits, but actually form their own night tour product system through cultural and tourism cross-over collaboration and fashion displays in combination with cultural relic exhibitions, cultural and creative items, and handcraft making experience. In the artistic conception of "Night Shanghai", the night museum tours showcase a distinctive Shanghai character that blends culture and technology together.

Second, late night studies. Having bookstores open in moonlight has become an indispensable force to promote all citizens to read and build up what is called the "Shanghai Culture" brand. When the night studies in Shanghai are lit up one by one late at night, the rich night cultures are also opening their "arms" to welcome more book lovers. The night studies are the humanistic lighthouses in the urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai". By lighting up every corner of the city and meeting the reading needs of local citizens, these night studies become a spiritual home for the urban dwellers and an oasis for the humanistic spirit of Shanghai.

Third, performing art clusters. Drama, singing and dancing performances are now important night cultural activities in Shanghai, and they also generate considerable economic returns. In the Opinions on Accelerating the Innovative Development of Cultural and Creative Industries in Shanghai, the Shanghai Municipal Government has called for building eight performing art clusters and accelerating the agglomeration effect in the entertainment industry. The urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" helps to promote the formation of these clusters, foster good synergy among local cultural organizations and achieve better market competitiveness and cultural benefits, thus forming Shanghai's iconic night cultural totem.

The urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" enhances the people’s sense of happiness

The urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" represents the most striking urban character of Shanghai and embodies the most comprehensive and the most genuine nightlife of Shanghai citizens. The sense of happiness is the biggest attraction of a city. The state shown by a city is the most important factor that directly affects the sense of happiness of the people living in the city. At the same time, it is also an important embodiment of the sense of happiness. As a matter of fact, the sense of happiness not only exists among the people in the city, but is also reflected in the people's sense of gain in the artistic conception of the city. While providing a sense of security and fostering communication among the people, the urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" can also meet the people's higher needs, such as by offering rich night social activities and making people proud of a unique night city aesthetics full of "Shanghai elements". The urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" enhances the people's sense of happiness, brings harmonious, happy and colorful cultural life to them, and enables people with different cultural backgrounds, occupations and identities to find their sense of belonging and identity in Shanghai. At the same time, an enhanced sense of happiness is also conducive to reinforcing the urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai", thus forming a benign cycle of mutual promotion between the two.

As Shanghai is calling for efforts to comprehensively boost its soft urban power, it is of immense practical significance to promote urban development and renewal by establishing an urban artistic conception of "Night Shanghai" with Shanghai characteristics. By creating such an artistic conception that reflects high taste and stresses practical effect, Shanghai will continue to meet its citizens' growing needs for high-end night life and give the people a greater sense of gain, satisfaction and happiness.

 

Source: Miao Ling, Shanghai Observer