J MS 10.34785/J011.2022.512 http://Urbstudies.uok.ac.ir Motaleate Shahri, 2021, 10 (40), 73-88 Investigating the Pivotal Role of Spatiotemporal Flow of Evening and Night-time Activities in the Perception of Safety (Case Study: City Centre of Rasht) Akbar Asghari Zamani - Department of Geography & Urban Planning, Faculty of Planning & Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran. Shahrivar Roostaei - Department of Geography & Urban Planning, Faculty of Planning & Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran. Nader Zali - Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art & Architecture, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran. Seyedeh-Samira Shafee-Masuleh 1 - Department of Geography & Urban Planning, Faculty of Planning & Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran. Received: 30 December 2020 Accepted: 03 June 2021 Highlights — The greenery (shady trees and vegetation) and seating areas provide a good sense of going out in the city — ‘Gardens and parks’ are one of the variables of the desirability of the urban night landscape — The majority of nightlife consumers consider their perceived safety to be more due to ‘activities/people on the streets, etc.’ — The spatiotemporal fow of evening and night-time activities leads to more revenue and fnancial turnover for the city and municipality Extended abstract Introduction: Nightlife and night-time economic attractions are a proper way to expand a working day and the impetus for national growth and development. The present study sought to answer the basic question of how the city of Rasht, Iran could provide a suitable platform for the spatiotemporal fow of activities in the evening and at night by adopting an analytical framework of time geography and quantitative analysis of nightlife consumption practices in the city center. Theoretical Framework: There have been many studies outside Iran on urban nightlife, most of which refer to a combination of social science studies on alcohol and the night leisure industry (Aresi & Pedersen, 2016; Pedrero-García, 2018; Søgaard, 2017). Studies conducted in Iran on nightlife have addressed the topic differently from the research performed outside Iran; these studies have been focused on geography and tourism planning (Shaykh-Baygloo & Soltani, 2019), urban vitality (Ghazanfarpor et al., 2019), cultural factors (Anizadeh, 2018), urban night leisure planning (Kashf, 2012), and urban night landscape with an emphasis on lighting (AkhavanSaraf et al., 2014). Against this background of research, the present study sought to complement the previous geographic research by adopting an analytical framework of time geography and a quantitative analysis of nightlife consumption practices at the center of Rasht. The innovative aspect of the present study, adopting an analytical framework of time geography, was the combination of two felds, namely nightlife consumption and perception of safety. The perception of safety, that is, the experience of the subjective feeling of being secure (Tulumello & Falanga, 2015), has been known as a key component of a well-functioning city (Cozens & Tarca, 2016). It is infuenced by many factors, including the built environment and activities (Bennetts et al., 2017; Piroozfar et al., 2019; van Nes et al., 2016) as an 1 Responsible author: s.shafiee@tabrizu.ac.ir doi