Even a casual observer could not fail to notice the ritual descent of young adults onto city centre streets every Friday and Saturday night. City councils, the media and development agencies increasingly make reference to the quality of night life aimed at young people to boost the image of cities while commentators remark on the role of night time activity in the revival of Britain's city centres. This project, then, looks in more detail at the connections between young people and changes in urban nightlife (bars, clubs, pubs, music venues).

In particular, we (YAFNet) are concerned with who currently owns the pub, bar and club sectors; the growing theming and branding of nightlife spaces; new methods of surviellance and control especially CCTV; and issues of access, safety and exclusion. Over the last decade new types of upmarket, branded nightlife, especially more cosmopolitan style and café bars, and larger super-pubs and -clubs have come to dominate nightlife in most cities. In the wake of this growth, older/historic and alternative/independent nightlife are being squeezed out, shut down or bought out. By talking to groups of young people, nightlife operators and regulators in several cities, this project aims to shed light on some of the implications of, and reactions to, the emergence of these 'cool cities'. We ask - whose nightlife? whose culture? whose city?