Abstract
This article analyses the nocturnal dimension to the Reims GrandCentre project. It brings out a shift in approach by those involvedin urban design, with an increased sensitivity to nocturnalmatters. This provides a way of improving user comfort anddeveloping new evening and night-time usages. Nevertheless,this attention to the nocturnal dimension is incomplete, seekingto make places more attractive only to certain parts of thepopulation, leading to various pre-existing usages beingdisplaced or pushed out, thereby increasing social andbehavioural normativity.