It’s 7am in Newstead. The inner-city, riverside suburb is already a hive of activity. Early-morning, Lycra-clad runners are pounding the boardwalk. Cyclists dart between dog walkers. Cafes are packed. Pilates studios and gyms are full.
There’s a vastly different scene unfolding in nearby Fortitude Valley. A handful of commuters make their way from the train station past shuttered nightclubs and bars in Brunswick Street Mall, along footpaths stained by the previous weekend’s revellers.
It’s a tale of two economies: the late-night economy and the dawn economy.
Sunrise over Brisbane, when 13 per cent of food and beverage businesses are already open. Getty Images Great cities need both, but the latter is Brisbane’s unique strength and could be our identity to market to the world ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games, according to University of Melbourne research fellow Dr Anna Edwards.
“Brisbane has one of the most active morning trading cultures in the country,” Edwards said.
In key districts of London, New York and Dubai, less than 10 per cent of businesses are open by 7am.
In Brisbane, one in three food and beverage businesses are open and serving customers by that time.
“That’s extraordinary by Australian and by international standards,” Edwards said.
“If Brisbane is looking for a distinctive story to tell the rest of the world over the next decade, perhaps it starts with dawn.”
Dr Anna Edwards has previously focused on the night-time and 24-hour economy, but last year the dawn economy piqued her interest. Ingenium So what is the dawn economy?
“Put simply, the dawn ec
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