Date of Award
8-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Landscape Architecture
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Mary G. Padua
Committee Member
Dr. Aby Sène-Harper
Committee Member
Dr. Bo Zhang
Committee Member
Dr. Elysse E. Newman
Abstract
This dissertation explores nighttime social leisure activities in public parks within urban working- and middle-class communities. As cities confront climate change, shifting work schedules, and post-pandemic lifestyles, neighborhood parks have gained renewed importance after dark, especially in areas where households have limited private space. These non-commercial nighttime uses are often overlooked in planning, design, and built environment studies, yet they play a vital role in fostering cultural identity, social connection, and community well-being.
Focusing on Williamsburg and Bushwick in Brooklyn, New York, this research investigates how public parks are used at night, by whom, and for what purposes. New York City’s 24-hour rhythm and cultural diversity provide a rich context for understanding how communities shape nocturnal public life. Drawing from urban design, cultural geography, and urban sociology, the study examines how nighttime activities reflect the evolution of spatial patterns and social dynamics.
The research employs a mixed-methods approach that includes ethnographic observation, semi-structured interviews, archival review, spatial-temporal mapping, and content analysis. Findings highlight how different user groups, across age, gender, and cultural backgrounds, adapt and reimagine public space after dark, often in ways that resist formal programming and challenge prevailing narratives of safety and surveillance.
By centering grassroots practices, this dissertation advances a more inclusive understanding of urban nocturnality. It calls for planning and design approaches that move beyond control and consumption, embracing the spontaneity, diversity, and relational rhythms that define everyday public life in the nocturnal city.
Recommended Citation
Kong, Jie, "Exploring the Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Nocturnal Urban Landscapes: A Case Study" (2025). All Dissertations. 4050.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/4050
Author ORCID Identifier
C38764877
Included in
Landscape Architecture Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons