If you look up at night in the city, chances are you can count the visible stars on your fingers and toes. Urban lighting has drowned out our view of the stars and the milky way, causing a disconnect between urban-dwelling humans and the night sky. In this episode we discuss this disconnect and the design solutions cities are implementing to reconnect us with the universe.

To get there we start in the Australian desert where stars stretch from one flat horizon to the other streaked by the white mist of the milky way. This is the home of the dark emu which lives in the sky and gives us a valuable example of how connection to the stars can deliver knowledge and new ways of thinking.

Jessie Ferrari is an Indigenous person of the Yorta Yorta people, pursuing Ecology at the University of Melbourne. They are currently in the works of writing a paper about Kulin Nation star, plant and animal knowledges and how these knowledge systems overlap, especially in regards to seasonal patterns.

Duane Hamacher is Associate Professor of Cultural Astronomy in the ARC Centre of Excellence in All-Sky Astrophysics in 3-Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) and the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne

Shelby Bassett hosts the podcast and is a Research Assistant in Urban Policy at Melbourne Centre for Cities.

Produced by Kate Murray for Melbourne Centre for Cities at the University of Melbourne.

Connected Cities podcast acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands on which this podcast was produced, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation, and pays respect to Elders past and present.

Saskia Sassen in conversation with Michele Acuto to discuss the brutality of housing inequalities and the social impact from a global perspective.

This recording is from a live virtual event, part of the 2021 Housing Assembly symposium held in November at the Melbourne School of Design and brought to you in collaboration with the University of Melbourne Affordable Housing Hallmark initiative.

You might also enjoy our other podcast Climate Talks. Created with Melbourne Climate Futures it focuses on COP26 and the big issues surrounding climate action, sustainability, and resilience.

Will we see different 'after dark' scenes once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and how can we need to plan for them? Cities After Dark was created during various states of lockdown due to the pandemic and tonight, with an array of night studies experts, we explore how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted the night-time economies of cities around the world and how Global Nighttime Recovery Plan can help.

This is the final episode of Cities After Dark. It is co-hosted by Shelby Bassett and Andreina Seijas with input from Alessio Kolioulis, Chrystel Oloukoi, Diana Reisailis, James Farrer, Michael Fichman, Robert Shaw, Su-Jan Yeo, and Will Straw.

The series is produced by Kate Murray with sound design by Bec Fary and brought to you by Connected Cities at the University of Melbourne. Find us on Twitter at @networkedcities and join the conversation using #CitiesAfterDark

The way cities are built and operate have changed how we sleep and not only humans are affected, we've changed the sleep patterns of urban flora and fauna too.

In episode five of our six-part series, our co-hosts Shelby Bassett and Michele Acuto talk with Roger Ekirch and Theresa Jones about sleeping in cities at night.

Brought to you by Connected Cities Lab at the University of Melbourne. Find us on Twitter at @networkedcities and join the conversation using #CitiesAfterDark. For full show notes and transcript visit Connected Cities podcast.

Who is allowed to be part of the urban night and who is excluded?

In episode four of our six-part series, our co-hosts Shelby Bassett and Michele Acuto talk with Will Straw, Su-Jan Yeo, Emilia Smeds, Ben Campkin and Lo Marshall about access and equity in cities at night.

Brought to you by Connected Cities at the University of Melbourne. Find us on Twitter at @networkedcities and join the conversation using #CitiesAfterDark

What is the city like when you work at night? Who watches the kids without child care, who makes your start-of-shift coffee when all the cafes are closed, how do you commute? Tonight we explore night shift work and how cities can be better at serving a 24-hour economy.

This is the third episode of our six-part series, where our co-hosts Shelby Bassett and Michele Acuto talk with Julius-Cezar MacQuarie, Su-Jan Yeo, Emilia Smeds and Jenny McArthur. It is produced by Kate Murray, with sound design by Bec Fary, and includes Little India, Singapore sounds downloaded from Zapsplat.com

Brought to you by Connected Cities at the University of Melbourne. Find us on Twitter at @networkedcities and join the conversation using #CitiesAfterDark

New 24hr lifestyles have expanded the role of the night in society, requiring new forms of governance and representation for those who live, work, and socialise at night. Enter - the night mayor!

In the second episode of our six-part series, co-hosts Shelby Bassett and Andreina Seijas talk with Robert Shaw, Mirik Milan, and Diana Raiselis about how the cities after dark are being managed and how we can find new ways to understand and foster flourishing nighttime cultures.

Brought to you by Connected Cities at the University of Melbourne. Find us on Twitter at @networkedcities and join the conversation using #CitiesAfterDark

As humans with our limited daytime vision, the night has long been understood as a time of danger and mystery. But today in cities with artificial lighting lining the streets the nature of night has changed. For some, it's a time for celebration and entertainment. For others, it's their regular work hours.

In this first episode of our six-part series, we talk with Robert Shaw, Chrystel Oloukoi, Alessio Kolioulis and Will Straw to unpack the night-time economy concept and look at some of the key issues in night-time governance.

Brought to you by Connected Cities at the University of Melbourne. Find us on Twitter at @networkedcities and join the conversation using #CitiesAfterDark

What challenges did urban observatories face with COVID-19 and how did they contribute to city responses to the pandemic? Researchers Ariana Dickey and Carla Washbourne met with academics from a variety of urban research institutions around the planet to answer this question.

For more information on our work around Urban Observatories including the companion publication to this podcast episode visit research.unimelb.edu.au/connected-cities/projects/urban-observatories

This episode was written and performed by Ariana Dickey and Carla Washbourne. Produced and edited by Kate Murray. Special thanks to our guests Rob Moore, Joseph McCarthy, Nausheen Anwar, Alexandra Parker, Jessica Seddon, Aromar Revi, Aniruddha Dasgupta, Lia Brum, and Robert Ndugwa.

Trailer for the Cities After Dark series, coming in 2021. Cities After Dark will guide you through night-time urban governance with an array of experts and night advocates from around the world.