On the Council’s budget decision to support Alive after 5 and reduce city centre parking charges in the evenings.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: "We're delighted that Aberdeen City Council has given universal support to the introduction of our 'Alive After Five' strategy which will bring significant benefits to our city centre during the evenings.
"A similar scheme has proved very successful in Newcastle, where appropriate car parking areas are made free of charge or at a reduced rate to the public in the early evening, attracting more people into the city centre for retail and entertainment. It made absolute sense for Aberdeen Inspired to bring the principles to our great city and we are delighted it has now been adopted as policy
"We looked at the experiences of this strategy and if ever there was a time to bring in progressive thinking, such as carefully considered dispensation on parking charges for our city centre then it is now.
"The city council has taken a bold step and we will continue to work with them and many other partners in pushing forward with other strands of the ‘Alive after 5’ strategy, such as Restaurant Week and the very successful introduction of an Evening and Night-Time Economy Manager to the city, as we look to deliver tangible outcomes that will strengthen our evening and night time economy."