Data After Dark

Introduction

Data After Dark will help support a vibrant, safe, and diverse Sydney nightlife. It aims to provide local and state government with a thorough, consistent and shared understanding of Sydney's 24-hour economy. It will further enhance Sydney’s standing as a global nightlife destination.

This project will build on work that’s already been done locally. It will gather and compare information from all over Sydney. This data will help to understand and improve Sydney's economic performance at night. It will also promote cooperation and sharing of knowledge.

The project will create a standard way to test Sydney’s economic performance. This will support better decision making to boost economic activity. It will also provide a broader view of night-time activity in the area.

Challenge

We want our cities to thrive, both during the day and at night. To help this happen, we need to understand how our night-time areas are doing and how they compare to each other.

Currently, there is no good baseline dataset to understand the health of our economy after dark. This includes information on the value and impact of Sydney’s music and nightlife spaces, and how it performs against other global cities.

Solution

Data After Dark will develop a standard model to assess economic performance across Greater Sydney. This information will be available to local government and state government decisionmakers to enable a wider view of Greater Sydney's night-time activity and performance. It will also support decision making on interventions to improve economic activity.

The project will help develop agreed metrics to measure the health of the night-time economy. The metrics will be drawing on and aggregating economic data to measure these agreed indicators.

The model will be scalable, replicable and interoperable with other services across NSW. 

Along with the NSW councils involved in this project, a number of Australian Councils have been consulted: City of Adelaide, City of Melbourne, Brisbane City Council, City of Perth and the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors. 

Expected outcomes

Smart Places outcome areas:

• collaboration and connection
• safety and security
• skills, jobs and development.

The project will also:

• improve understanding of the economic contribution of Greater Sydney’s night-time economy
• improve and assess economic performance of night-time areas
• develop an agreed set of metrics for measuring the night-time economy that can be compared across NSW.

Resources

Want to implement a similar project? Visit our Smart Places Playbook for help.

Explore other smart projects in NSW