Kes valitsesid öist linnaruumi moderniseerumisajal?
Authors: Paramonov Riho 
Published: February 2025

Before the Second World War, the daytime was for working and the night-time was for sleeping, but nocturnal urban space is of course far from devoid of life and movement. However, nocturnal rhythms in public space predominantly bear a sporadic and episodic nature. There are rather few people who are permanent fixtures in the nocturnal space and as a result of which the space begins to be defined to a certain degree according to those individuals. The most important ones are four professions: coachman, taxi driver, lamplighter/night watchman and policeman: They are the dominant figures or actors in the nocturnal urban space. All four of these professions do their work in public and do not have the option to draw back indoors, which means that any passerby can, if desired, intervene via observation or some other manner.
Two of the professions (lamplighter/night watchman and coachman) are “old” and two (policeman and taxi driver) are new, arising only in the 19th or early 20th century. Whether a profession is aligned with the main principles of modernity is more important than newness. The taxi drivers hold an advantage here, since the profession concentrates innovation, one of the most important keywords of modern times. Innovation does not only lie in use of cars but also the widespread and effective use of fare meters, telephone and advertising. Other aspects that characterize the profession, too – the staffing, organization, discourse etc. – are modern in style.
Still, it deserves to be noted that the oldest of the four professions, coachman, is not all that different. It, too, is a form of enterprise that proceeds from rational economic logic. The main problem for coachmen became the incapability of adapting to new conditions. They could not compete with taxis and public transport, since their social capital was low and the profession was not an appealing career choice for young people.
Lantern lighters faced similar problems. Public discourse from the period suggests that it would only be a matter of time until these professions disappeared completely. The situation with taxi drivers and police was different; development was ongoing and adaptation pressure strong, but so was people’s adaptation ability. The people in these professions were not geared to achieving fleeting satisfaction but a brighter future.
Although all four professions are interrelated and some even evolved out of each other, each one had their own specifics. Yet they also had a common denominator, as each one brought order and sense of safety to the city after dark. Coachmen’s and taxi ranks were especially beneficial in this regard, as their network spanned almost the entire city. Making up quite a significant part of the public space after dark, practitioners of these professions helped to structure and conceptualize this sphere. The four professions also worked together in many situations.
Safety and security had another, much more personal dimension for these professionals. They were constantly exposed to the darker sides of the night, which could pose a threat to their own property, life and limb. There is no doubt that these are in that sense complicated professions that required high psychological and mental adaptability and durability, so in that way they epitomized the modern city, full of dynamism, diversity and tension.