WRITING
I write about places where people gather or find a sense of belonging in urban space – and about how cities support those spaces in policy, planning and governance. My work moves between academic research and applied projects, and aims to make visible the stories, practices, and data that might otherwise go unnoticed.
To read more, head to The Report Library or my ResearchGate.
Featured Essays:
Beyond “the death of the gay bar”: Linking research with practice in Queer Space Project (Radical CreativITIes)
“Holding the frame”: awareness as care work and community practice in Berlin club culture ([Transcript])
The A Team: Awareness Teams in Berlin Club Culture as Self-Governance Practice for “Safe(r) Space” (Researchgate) 
How Nashville, Tennessee is championing independent music venues as essential for cultural and economic prosperity (Brookings) Publications
Journal Articles
“Beyond ‘the death of the gay bar’: Linking research with practice in Queer Space Project. Radical Creativities, Issue 2. https://www.radicalcreativities.com/post/beyond-the-death-of-the-gay-bar-linking-research-with-practice-in-queer-space-project
Book chapters
Fichman, M., Raiselis, D. Leichsenring, L. (2026: forthcoming). “Creative footprints: mapping urban creative space and programming as a tool for night governance,” in Routledge Handbook of the Night-time Economy, eds. Alessio Kolioulis, Jess Reia and Will Straw. Milton Park: Routledge.
Raiselis, D. (2024). ‘“Holding the frame”: awareness as care work and community practice in Berlin club culture,’ in Jóri, A. and Robin, G. (eds.) Living at Night in Times of Pandemic. Bielefeld: transcript verlag.
Sachse, K, & Raiselis, D. (2022). ‘Recht auf Club: Clubkultur in einer wachsenden, sich verdichtenden Stadt’, Massive Volume—Neue Räume für Clubkultur. Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, pp. 27–31. https://depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/12480
Conference proceedings
Raiselis, D., & Sachse, K. (2020). ‘Clubsterben: Threats to Berlin’s Club Culture and Responses from Nighttime Governance’, in Garcia-Ruiz, M. and Nofre, J. (eds.) 1st International Conference on Night Studies Proceedings,Lisbon, Portugal (online), 2–4 July 2020, pp. 121–138. https://repositorio.iscte-iul.pt/handle/10071/20802.
Selected industry reports
Salem, A., Raiselis, D., Gillett, E., Thomas, K., Leichsenring, L. et al. (2026) London Nightlife Taskforce Report. London Nightlife Taskforce, VibeLab, in collaboration with the Mayor of London and Greater London Authority. https://nightlife-research.london/#landing
Teng, M., Thomas, K., Rodriguez, N., Raiselis, D., Murdeshwar, R., Bailey, K., Lobenstine, L., Milan, M. (2025) ‘Nightlife for All,’ Design Studio for Social Intervention (DS4SI), VibeLab. https://boston-nightlife.study/
Ahrend, K., Sachse, K., Raiselis, D., Reitz, T., von Wurzbach, B. Demir, Z. (2026: forthcoming). ‘Berlin Club Survey,’ Clubcommission Berlin.
Raiselis, D. (2024). ‘Queer Space Project 2024 Program Report,’ Creative Impact Research Centre Europe (CIRCE).creativeimpact.eu/en/fellowship/diana-raiselis/
Huynh, D., Gravalos, V., Raiselis, D. (2024). ‘Neighbourhoods for All: Peer to Peer Learning on Safer Cities 2023-24,’ UN-Habitat, UCLG, VibeLab, Habitat Norway. https://learning.uclg.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PLN39_Neighbourhoods-for-All.pdf
Fichman, M., Raiselis, D. Hanford, K., Holt, E. et al. (2024). ‘Nashville Independent Venues Study,’ PennPraxis, VibeLab, Culture Shift Team.https://nashville-venues.study/
Raiselis, D., Salem, A., & van Brederode, M. (2023). ‘Creative Footprint Sydney’, VibeLab. Available at: https://www.creative-footprint.org/
Raiselis, D., Salem, A., & van Brederode, M. (2023). ‘Creative Footprint Montréal’, VibeLab. Available at: https://www.creative-footprint.org/
Raiselis, D., Fichman, M., van Brederode, M., Gottung, A., Stamadianos, K., et al. (2023). Toronto Night Economy Review. VibeLab, PennPraxis, Long Winter. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2023/ec/bgrd/backgroundfile-240722.pdf
Raiselis, D., Rai Handa, R., & Knap, K. (2023). ‘A Manual for Regenerative Gatherings’, OnEarth Foundation. Available at: https://onearth.io/regenerative-gatherings/
Salem, A. and Raiselis, D. (2022). ‘Creative Footprint Stockholm’, VibeLab. Available at: https://www.creative-footprint.org/
Editorial leadership
“Global Nighttime Recovery Plan,” (Chapters 1-7) nighttime.org/recoveryplan. July 2020–December 2021 (eds. Fichman, Foster, Leichsenring, Milan, Raiselis, Salem, Seijas, Yuan).
Blogs, podcasts, digital resources
Fichman, M. and Raiselis, D. (2025) “How Nashville, Tennessee is championing independent music venues as essential for cultural and economic prosperity.” Brookings: Placemaking Postcards. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-nashville-tennessee-is-championing-independent-music-venues-as-essential-for-cultural-and-economic-prosperity/
Gökce, T. (2024). ‘Club-Studie – Der Wert des Nachtlebens,’ Deutschlandfunk.
Hafedh, N., Dawood, M. and Raiselis, D. (2023). ‘Engaging in Utopia: Towards More Inclusive, Joyful Civic Engagement’, Salzburg Global Seminar.
Fortant, E., (2023) “MTL Night Summit: Diana Raiselis, the researcher taking Montreal nightlife picture,” PAN M 360. https://panm360.com/en/interviews-panm360/mtl-night-summit-diana-raiselis-the-researcher-taking-montreal-nightlife-picture/
White, R., (2022). ‘Nighttime Operating Hours: The Case for Later Nights’, 24Minutes, 24HourNation [Podcast].
Seijas, A. and Bassett, S. (2021). ‘Having Night Mayors’, Cities After Dark, University of Melbourne Connected Cities Lab [Podcast].
Seijas, A., Milan, M. and Raiselis, D. (2020). ‘Mapping Night Mayors, Offices and Commissions Worldwide’, Nighttime.org.
Sambale, E. (2021). ‘Silent Night,’ Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung.
Beaufils, E. (2021). ‘Podcast: Global Nighttime Recovery Plan w/ Diana Raiselis,’ Systems Radio.
Wanna get in touch? hello [at] draiselis [dot] com
