Problem addressed

City services and urban public spaces are designed mainly for daily activities, when economic businesses and public/private services provide networking points for social protection in urban areas, even more important in deprived neighbourhoods and in peripheral areas. On the other hand, according to trends in urban agglomeration and changes in urban life styles, cities are more and more lived by night,with public spaces becoming increasingly attractive for activities such as social aggregations, organisation of events, exhibitions and cultural activities. During the night, economic activities and services are reduced and the function of social protection is assigned to the public security force and, in particular, to the Local Police, whose intervention is mainly based on a traditional approach of law enforcement and control.

Innovative solution

• Activating new local services able to generate social impact in the evening and night-time. 19 projects (representing 59 local organizations) were selected and financed through a Call for applications and have been working to improve the quality of life of the target areas. Projects activated cultural, socio-educational or social-health facilities, also through the functional redevelopment and re-appropriation of some public spaces just limitedly valued or used by the residents. 
• Urban regeneration interventions, in order to bring beauty, light points, support for socializing and improve the livability of areas with evening and night-time potential still unexpressed or perceived as dangerous. 3 urban regeneration interventions were completed and more than 7000 square meters of public spaces were regenerated.

Key results and benefits

The process of activating local communities and the strong focus on public space experienced in ToNite were the guide for developing a urban regeneration programme funded by the National Programme for Metropolitan Cities (PN Metro Plus) for around 40 million €, comprising physical interventions on public spaces and intangible actions aimed at social and cultural inclusion and the development of neighbourhood services.
The urban regeneration programme operates in the same target areas as ToNite and includes a new social innovation measure called 'ImpatTO', to the value of 2.4 million €, which continues the work done by the UIA project of activating local communities and creating community spaces that offer proximity services.

Potential for mainstreaming

The City of Torino is now leading the 2Nite URBACT Innovation Transfer Network, to transfer the ToNite experience, good practices and lessons learned to other European cities (Riga, Cluj Napoca, Sant Boi de Llobregat, and Quadrilátero Urbano, an Association of 4 Portuguese Municipalities which includes Barcelos, Braga, Famalicão and Guimarães). The project develops Investment Plans (‘Continuity Plans’, in the case of Torino) to apply the ToNite approach in different urban contexts, working with URBACT Local Groups. The key transferability point is the multidisciplinary and inclusive approach to the topic of urban security during evening and night: how the collaboration with local stakeholders and communities and the provision of new services at night-time for reviving public spaces may be crucial for improving residents’ perception of safety at night.