2. POLITECNICO DI MILANO
DESIGN DEPARTMENT
DOCTORAL PROGRAMME IN DESIGN
URBAN SOCIAL LIGHTING
Exploring the social dimension of urban lighting
for more sustainable urban nightscapes
Doctoral Dissertation of
Daria Casciani
Supervisor:
Prof. Maurizio Rossi
Co-Supervisor:
Fulvio Musante
The Chair of the Doctoral Program:
Prof. Francesco Trabucco
2013 – 26° cycle
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Index
Abstract
0 Introduction
0.1 Problem Statement
0.2 Research aim and Research questions
0.3 Research approach
0.3.1 Literature Review
0.3.2 Case study
0.3.3 Experimental on-line Studies: Luminauta 1-2
0.3.4 Experimental on-site studies: Markthal 1-2
0.4 Guide to the chapters
PART 1 | CITY + LIGHT + PEOPLE:
A SOCIAL DIMENSION
1.1 Around the social dimension of the city
1.1.1 The importance of the social function of the public spaces
1.1.2 Typologies and public-ness of social spaces
1.1.3 Levels of urban social interaction
1.1.4 Urban qualities supporting successful social places
1.1.5 Fostering the urban social dimension with urban lighting
1.2 Human factors in urban lit environments
1.2.1 Night-time vision: sensation and perception
1.2.2 Perception of the Environment
1.2.3 Perception of the Luminous Environment
1.3 Social oriented criteria
1.3.1 Visual comfort
1.3.2 Security and safety perception
1.3.3 Ambiance, Pleasantness, Atmosphere
1.3.4 Visual orientation and legibility
1.4 Sustainable Lighting: a social issue
1.4.1 Environmental sustainability
1.4.2 Energetic sustainability
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PART 2 | THE NEED FOR MORE RESEARCH
2.1 Limits and opportunities of the research
2.1.1 Quantitative street lighting versus qualitative urban lighting
2.1.2 Lighting Atmosphere evaluation: from indoor to outdoor
2.1.3 Lighting Technological advances
2.1.4 Lighting composition: summarizing insights and findings
2.1.5 Coloured lighting (spectral power distribution)
2.1.6 Lighting behaviours: dynamics and interactions
2.2 Framing the research question
2.2.1 Research question
2.2.2 Research Hypothesis
2.3 Investigation methods and tools of the thesis:
research methodology
2.3.1 Case study analysis
2.3.2 Image and video-based studies: Luminauta 1 -2
2.3.3 On-site studies: Markthall 1-2
PART 3 | CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
3.1 Lighting Design cases selection and criteria -
based analysis
3.1.1 Objectives
3.1.2 The research process
3.2 What? Where? When? Who?
Social oriented lighting: a general framework
3.2.1 Social lighting: responsive to people need and activities
3.2.2 Where? Places of intervention of Social urban lighting design
3.2.3 When? Time, duration and ownership of social urban lighting
3.2.4 Who? The role of the lighting designer
3.3 Social inclusion in lighting design.
A deeper analysis
3.3.1 Levels of social inclusion
3.3.2 Design Phase (Before)
3.3.3 Performance Phase (During)
3.3.4 Final Phase (Post)
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3.4 How do lighting activate people participation?
3.4.1 Means of social participation between people and the city
3.4.2 Urban lighting variables
3.4.3 Urban lighting functions
3.5 What are SMART urban lighting experiences?
3.6 Insights and conclusions
3.6.1 Social inclusion in the lighting design process
3.6.2 Social urban Lighting functions
3.6.3 Open questions and further investigation
PART 4 | CONDUCTED EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES
4.1 Luminauta 1: Experiences of Lighting
Sustainability in the Environment
4.1.1 Objectives and research question
4.1.2 Research Method
4.1.3 Research Procedure and Participants
4.1.4 Lighting Stimuli
4.1.5 Data elaboration and Findings
4.1.6 Discussion
4.1.7 Netnography for qualitative analysis
4.1.8 Conclusion
4.2 Luminauta 2: influence of lighting behaviours
4.2.1 Objectives and research question
4.2.2 Research procedure and participants
4.2.3 Lighting Stimuli
4.2.4 Data elaborations and findings
4.2.5 Discussion and Conclusion
4.3 Let’s Switch on the Markthal
4.3.1 Objective and research question
4.3.2 Description of the location
4.3.3 Description of the Lighting System
4.3.4 Description of the Living Light Lab Platform
4.3.5 Methodology
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4.4 Analytical phase: on-site observations about space
and patterns of use
4.4.1 General overview
4.4.2 Studying view depth and gaze drivers in the space
4.4.3 Studying pedestrian paths and activities in the space
4.4.4 Studying night-timing, activity timing and weather condition
4.4.5 Studying people expectations and appraisal about the Markthal
4.4.6 Conclusions
4.5 Markthal 1: people appraisal of static lighting
scenarios in outdoor space
4.5.1 Research Method
4.5.2 Static Lighting Scenario: design and description
4.5.3 Research hypothesis
4.5.4 Findings, insights and discussion
4.5.5 Discussion and insights: feeding the findings back into design
4.6 Markthal 2: people appraisal of dynamic/
responsive lighting scenarios
4.6.1 Research method
4.6.2 Dynamic and Socially Adaptable Lighting Scenario design
4.6.3 Data collection
4.6.4 Experiment hypothesis
4.6.5 Lighting Design Software and tools
4.6.6 Results and insights
4.6.7 Discussing the findings
Part 5 | CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
5.1 Response to research questions
5.1.1 Luminous atmospheric experience
5.1.2 Social eco-responsibility
5.1.3 Social enhancement by lighting
5.1.4 Multidisciplinary role of the lighting designer
5.1.5 Operative instruments of design and research
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5.2 Response to research objectives: originality
5.3 Facing the problems and limits of the research
5.4 Future of the research
5.4.1 Future steps of the research
5.4.2 Next step: Urban Prototypes of Spatial Augmented Reality
Lighting Glossary
Bibliographic References (Alphabetic order)
Attachments
Attachment A
Attachment B
Attachment C
Attachment D
Attachment E
Attachment F
Attachment G
Attachment H
Attachment I
Attachment L
Attachment M
Attachment N
Attachment O
Attachment P
Attachment Q
Acknowledgements
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1- EN 13201-2 2014 (Draft)
2 - UNI 11248 - 2012 - Road lighting Selection
of lighting classes
3 - CIE 136-2000 – Guide to the lighting of
Urban Areas;
4 - CIE 115 – 2010 Lighting of roads for motor
and pedestrian traffic
5 - Conférence: Ambiance et atmosphère en
lumière urbaine, Roger Narboni, Nantes, 8
mars 2012
6 - Brandi U., Geissmar-Brandi C.(2007),
Light for Cities, Lighting Design for Urban
Spaces.A Handbook, Birkhäuser Publishers for
Architecture, Switzerland
7 - Raynham P., Gardner C. (2001), Urban
Lights: Sustainable Urban Lighting for Town
Centre Regeneration, Lux Europa 2001,
Reykjavik
8 - Raynham, P. (2007), Public Lighting in
Cities. International Conference Illuminat 2007.
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
9 - Boyce P., (2003), Human factors in lighting,
Taylor & Francis, London and New York
10 - Schulte-Römer N. (2010), Urban Light
Planning Evaluation, Evidence and the New,
Workshop-Report Urban Light Planning –
Evaluation, Evidence and the New,WZB, 25-26
Nov. 2010
11 - Schivelbush W., (1995), Disenchanted
night The industrialization of light in the
nineteenth century, The University of California
Press, Berkeley and los Angeles, California
12 - Uk Kim, Sung-O Cho (2009), A study on
the innovative urbanization using ubiquitous
technology, ISCIT
13 - Canter D. V. (1977), The psychology of
place, London: The architectural press
The traditional idea of urban public lighting is based on a double approach: on
one side, economical savings and technical performances based on quantitative
data, on the other side, the creative contribution of lighting practitioners focuses
on enhancing urban amenity and strengthening the night-time experience of the
city.This dual position is also well represented, on one side, by lighting regulations
and public administrations focusing on energetic savings and functional needs1 2
.
Conversely, several guides of practice3 4
supported by the lighting design practice5
6 7 8
agree that urban lighting is aimed at providing good quality lighting and social
experiences. Functional needs, such as visibility at night and security from traffic,
have already been extensively investigated with a major focus around car users.
On the other hand, this dissertation is an inquiry about good quality urban lighting
as primarily intended for people and explores people related visual performances,
visual comfort, visual ambiance and social experiences enabled by urban lighting.
A small but consistent group of lighting designers is shifting its practice from the
architectural to the social and experiential layer of the city. In this regard, a social
oriented lighting design has emerged as an interesting approach aimed at providing
more accessible and sociable cities but also contributing to a deeper sustainable
urban lighting. In comparison to energetic, technical and economic issues, the
human, experiential and social values of urban lighting represent a relatively
young topic of investigation9
which is more difficult to measure or estimate. In
addition to this, the available researches around this topic are mainly focused on
indoor environments, meanwhile researches in outdoor urban contexts are lacking
comprehensive insights and a shared methodology.This lack of deep understanding
and need of more investigation is also determined by the recent technological
advent of Solid State Lighting (SSL) and digital control systems that is envisioning
new possible intelligent applications for urban lighting. This transformation is
also including the practice, the design parameters and competences of lighting
designers10
. All these technological improvements can be useful for radically and
meaningfully transforming the contemporary cities at night when adding a social
value to the urban experience11 12
.
In this PhD dissertation, the evaluation of urban luminous experiences from people
perspective is hypothesized to be determinant for designing sustainable and social
oriented night-time experiences to benefit the social use of the public realm.Aiming
at defining the phenomena of Urban Social Lighting, the research was based on
a multidisciplinary and multiple qualitative and quantitative approach. In order to
verify the research hypothesis, both secondary and experimental research were
elaborated by analyzing, simulating, designing and testing lighting scenarios and
performances toward an in depth understanding of the social and human influence
of urban lighting in the SSL era. A first general desk research was performed
through the collection, selection and categorization of case studies in order to
gather a preliminary descriptive theoretical framework from the lighting design
perspective. The second phase was aimed at collecting raw but focused insights
about outdoor lighting influence from people point of view: quantitative surveys
based on images and videos followed by qualitative analysis were exploited.A third
phase was performed as a “unit of environmental experience”13
study, by designing
lighting scenarios and performances in a real urban context. The exploration was
focused on people appraisal with both controlled and uncontrolled behaviours in
the natural context: the influence of variables such as lighting colours, lighting
spatial distribution and lighting behaviours, both dynamic and re-active, were
12. | 13
investigated.
As a conclusion, the interpretation and discussion of the insights were presented
by comparing the findings of the experiments with the preliminary assumptions
derived both from the literature review and case studies research. An overview
both from the lighting design practice perspective and from people evaluative point
of view was gathered. Findings were focused on further extending knowledge
about people spatial experience of lighting from indoor to outdoor applications. In
this regard, qualitative insights that could contribute to inform the lighting research
field about a more user centred design (UCD) approach in the urban lighting domain
were elaborated.
The research stressed that,focusing on people,more sustainable lighting scenarios
can be implemented: social oriented lighting seems to find a way to conciliate
environmental, social and energetic scopes through responsive scenarios that
could transform the urban space with an evocative power and, in the same time,
re-establishing a trust relationship between inhabitants and the nocturnal city.
Certain lighting variables were found to contribute both to social enhancement,
luminous positive atmosphere impression and social eco-responsible behaviours.
In particular colours of lighting, lighting distribution and lighting proximity were
found highly correlated to visual comfort, impressions of a hospitable, accessible
and more personalized environment. In addition to this, lighting re-active and
interactive performances were found to positively influence the impression of
the night both in evocative and entertaining ways, personalizing the space and
letting people interact and socialize together. More than this, interactive lighting
performances were found to increase people control in defining actively the urban
lighting atmosphere. In this regard, this dissertation examined, the different levels
of social inclusion through the whole process of urban lighting planning: positive
outcomes were found in terms of education and critical responsibility about urban
lighting, for building a strong sense of belonging in the definition of the lighting
atmosphere, in relation to the evaluation of the project as an ethical commitment
of the lighting designer and for a deeper and rediscovered reconciliation of people
with the city.
More than this, this PhD dissertation reflects on the lighting design practice and on
the methodological process for knowledge acquisition when tackling with complex
issues about the relationship of lighting, people and city with the advent of new
lighting technologies. The role of the lighting designer, its new competences and
the trans-disciplinary way of collaborating with different disciplines are discussed.
In addition to this, the research provides a complete overview of the methodology
and the tools that were elaborated and tested during the research both for
designing, collecting and interpreting research results. Due to cultural, contextual,
physical and psychological factors that contribute to influence the perception of
urban lighting, this dissertation is not conceived as possibly supplying a single
and universal recipe for good quality lighting. A conceptual framework and a
methodological procedure were provided to be adapted to different urban lighting
design and investigation processes. In addition to this, it also envisions future steps
in terms of new topics of interest and applications.
