Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2020-21/Lights will Guide You Home: The Sociological and Environmental Impact of Light in Cities
Introduction
editIn 2018, the UN estimated that 55% of the world's population lived in urban areas, and that number continues to increase.[1] Urban lighting therefore affects over 3.5 billion people worldwide, as well as a significant number of animal species, and its implementation and regulation can have enormous impacts. Sociology and Ecology are two disciplines contributing to our understanding of urban lighting today. An interdisciplinary framework for these disciplines to communicate already exists: Urban Planning. However, tensions between them persist, which is reflected on lighting policies.[2] This chapter explores the role of power in research and policies about urban lighting by identifying the conflict of priorities which impedes communication between disciplines.
Sociological perspective
editSociological priorities are manifold within the study of urban lighting, and they sometimes conflict with one another even within the same field. Three of these priorities are the reassurance of safety, gender equality and economic growth. Economic growth and the reassurance of safety have particular influence in urban lighting, while gender equality is more implicit. Sociology encourages the increase or re-design of urban lighting in order to make public space more inviting, through analysing how artificial light impacts experience.
Urban lighting and safety reassurance
editUrban lighting yields latent power over individuals' emotions and perceptions of safety. The NYC Mayor’s Office conducted a study on public housing residents in New York City; only 21% of the residents felt safe at night compared to 50% during the day.[3] This issue must be addressed by psychology experts to abate this sense of vulnerability and inability to recognise potential offenders and their facial expressions.[4] The lack of visual clarity withdraws the potential victim’s power.
In another study, participants were shown a photograph of an urban area in different lighting levels based on varied light settings.[5] [6] The photographs of lower light levels exposed much less visual information; this distorted the spatial dimension. Responses were recorded using Situation-Response Questionnaires to demonstrate that lower lighting levels and colder lights produced stronger responses of fear. Perhaps, warmer lighting can be utilised outside as academics argue it encourages a sense of calm. [7]
Therefore, how individuals view safety within the community is being affected by insufficient and inefficient urban lighting.
Urban lighting and gender equality
editInsufficient or ill-designed street lighting is one of the main variables which can affect the gendered nature [8] of public space. Women and other gender minorities tend to avoid darkness, or areas that are too brightly lit,[9] because they feel unsafe.[10] [11]Sometimes, this leads them to avoid going out at night altogether[12]. Urban planners and city officials, commonly cisgender men, therefore hold latent power over gender minorities. Indirectly, their policies on urban lighting can restrict gender minorities' movements and decision-making power, influencing gender roles on a societal level (linking women to the home, for example).[13] A UN Women report on New Delhi, where 95% of women feel unsafe, suggested that increased urban lighting would reduce gender inequalities in the city.[14] However, the issue of gender in lighting policies is often overlooked: in London's 2018 Urban Lighting Strategy, there was no mention of it.[15]
Urban lighting and economic growth
editIn developing countries, urban lighting can catalyse economic growth, improve quality of life and increase wealth. Nighttime lighting and wealth are so fundamentally linked that scholars even suggest nighttime illuminations could be used to measure a country's GDP.[16] [17]
Artificial light enhances productivity by allowing nighttime work. It facilitates leisure at night, encourages tourism by increasing reassurance and improving the city's aesthetic landscape.[18] The Telegraph states roughly 1 in 7 people in the world live in "light poverty" (not having access to artificial light).[19] Often, those who live in these conditions are forced to resort to unhealthy and dangerous alternatives to electrical light such as candles and kerosene lamps.[20] This suggests that increases in artificial lighting in developing countries are to be welcomed.
Ecological perspective
editSocio-economic arguments in favour of urban lighting can overlook the harmful ecological impacts of light pollution; 30% of all outdoor lighting is misused. [21] This not only results in economic loss but also contributes to climate change. For instance, in 2017, the US lost $6.3 billion and contributed an excess of 23 billion pounds of CO2.[21]
The adverse effects of excessive city lighting transcend the common problems of energy inefficiency[22]. The most notable "forms of light pollution are sky glow, light trespass, glare, and over-illumination". [23] These have severe ecological and evolutionary repercussions. The plenitude of research conducted on the topic has not obstructed it from being underestimated.
Urban lighting and wildlife
editThe first effects of light pollution were observed in 1888 on migratory birds, who mistake city lights for the constellations they utilise as a guide. This results in light-induced mortality, a growing anthropogenic threat that requires control. [24] 60% of birds picked up by the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) in the Toronto region have been found dead. [21] Even if they survive, they have lower body weights and condition indices than fledgelings captured at the colony.[24] Many more studies demonstrate the adverse influences on behavioural and physiological functions of various taxa.[25] Although some outcomes are yet to be proved, the disruption of daily cycle patterns is “likely to influence processes such as growth, reproduction, eclosion, diapause, moult and embryonic development.”[26]
Urban lighting and human health
editThere is additional neglect surrounding light pollution's effect on humans. Similarly to other animals, light pollution can have a strong influence on their melatonin production [27]. As melatonin has been shown to hold antioxidant properties and boost immune responses[28], its lower concentrations in the body have been associated with an increased risk of cancer[29]. Most distinctly, due to increased levels of oestrogen (also caused by suppression of melatonin production), with breast cancer[30]. Interestingly, blue light suppresses melatonin production more than lights at longer wavelengths[31]. Perhaps, switching to red-toned lamps could minimise these adverse health consequences.
Conclusion
editWhile activists argue light pollution is a straightforward challenge[32], it is more complex. Viewed ecologically, the conclusion is clear: governments should introduce laws limiting illumination from the cities[33]. Nevertheless, a reduction in urban lighting could have extreme societal repercussions. Sociology and Ecology's debate is mostly centered around "costs" and "benefits" of urban lighting [34], but fails to consider a middle ground. Adaptive or intelligent dynamic lighting, which adapts lighting levels according to statistics or motion sensors, is of increasing interest to researchers[35] and provides a possible resolution. However, adaptive lighting is not well-developed, and is not even mentioned in Los Angeles' 2020-2025 lighting strategy,[36] although LA is considered one of the most innovative cities in terms of street lighting. [37]
This can be attributed to a lack of well-developed connections between "research, policy and practice".[38] Perhaps, a "collective efficacy" can be deployed towards improving awareness of urban lighting's impact on humanity and our ecological environment. Collective efficacy is the ability of individuals to control others' behaviour in a community with an intended effect.[39] Arendt theorised that power could never be attributed to the act of a single individual, but of the group that implements, builds and stimulates the agency within the community.[40] Informing the public would therefore encourage policy-makers to adopt street lighting that upholds sociology and ecology's conflicting priorities effectively.
References
edit- ↑ The United Nations. ‘68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050’ [online], says UN. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2018 [13/12/2020].
- ↑ Sustainable Cities Collective. Lighting our Cities: More than Meets the Eye. [online]. ODI: London [Accessed 14 December 2020]. Available from: https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/future-london-lighting-our-cities-more-meets-eye/1071261/
- ↑ Painter, KP. and Middlesex Polytechnic, ‘Lighting, Crime Prevention and Community Safety: The Tower Hamlets Project’. 1989, London, UK. First Report. Middlesex Polytechnic London. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://popcenter.asu.edu/sites/default/files/137-painter-the_impact_of_street_lighting_on_crime_fear_an.pdf
- ↑ van Rijswijk. LVR. Haans. AH. ‘Illuminating for Safety: Investigating the Role of Lighting Appraisals on the Perception of Safety in the Urban Environment’, SAGE Journals. 2017. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916517718888
- ↑ van Rijswijk. LVR. Haans. AH. ‘Illuminating for Safety: Investigating the Role of Lighting Appraisals on the Perception of Safety in the Urban Environment’, SAGE Journals. 2017. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916517718888.
- ↑ Calvillo Cortés, ABCC. Falcón Morales, LEFM. ‘Emotions and the Urban Lighting Environment: A Cross-Cultural Comparison’, 2016. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244016629708
- ↑ ITMO NEWS. 'Light in the City: How Light Affects Our Mood and Emotions'. 2019. Accessed: 2019. Accessed from: https://news.itmo.ru/en/education/trend/news/8500/
- ↑ Tuncer, ST. ‘Gendered Public Spaces: Women’s Narratives of Everyday Violence in Modern’, 2015 Turkey, Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281243907_Gendered_Public_Spaces_Women's_Narratives_of_Everyday_Violence_in_Modern_Turkey
- ↑ Kalms,NK. ‘More lighting alone does not create safer cities. Look at what research with young women tells us’, The Conversation. 2019. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://theconversation.com/more-lighting-alone-does-not-create-safer-cities-look-at-what-research-with-young-women-tells-us-113359
- ↑ LSE Blog Admin. ‘Designing nocturnal cities: Illuminating the social role light plays in urban life’. 2015. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/02/10/social-role-of-light-urban-design/
- ↑ Meier, JM. Hasenohrl, UT. Krause, KK. Pottharst, MP. ‘Urban Lighting, Light Pollution and Society’. first edition. 2014. Routledge. pg. 23
- ↑ Ballard, JB. ‘61% of women regularly take steps to avoid being sexually assaulted’. YourGov. 2019. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2019/03/28/women-safety-sexual-assault-awareness
- ↑ Govil, AG. ‘A Walk in a Woman’s Shoes: Re-thinking Lighting in Urban Nightscapes’, 2016. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://womeninlighting.com/images/uploads/misc/Govil_Aditi_Paper.pdf
- ↑ United Nations Women. ‘Better lighting, wider pavements: steps towards preventing sexual violence in New Delhi’. The United Nations Women. 2013. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/5/better-lighting-wider-pavements-steps-towards-preventing-sexual-violence-in-new-delhi
- ↑ Spiers and Major. City of London Lighting Strategy. 2018. accessed: 2020. accessed by: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/assets/Services-Environment/public-realm-city-lighting-strategy.pdf
- ↑ Vernon Henderson, JVH. Storeygard, AS. Weil, DNW. ‘A Bright Idea for Measuring Economic Growth’. US National Library of Medicine, 2014. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4112959/
- ↑ Hu, YH. Yao, JY. Illuminating Economic Growth: IMF Working Paper, African Department, 2019. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://www.imf.org/~/media/Files/Publications/WP/2019/WPIEA2019077.ashx
- ↑ Meier, JM. Hasenohrl, UT. Krause, KK. Pottharst, MP. ‘Urban Lighting, Light Pollution and Society’. first edition. 2014. Routledge. pg205
- ↑ Rondolat, ER. ‘1.1 billion reasons why light poverty must be eradicated’. The Telegraph. 2015. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11858677/1.1billion-reasons-why-light-poverty-must-be-eradicated.html
- ↑ LED Light and Power. ‘A Spark in the Dark: LED Lighting in Developing Countries’. LED Light and Power. 2018. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from:https://www.ledlightandpower.com/spark-dark-led-lighting-developing-countries/#:~:text=The%20asset%20of%20lighting%20helps,the%20world%20today%3A%20light%20poverty.
- ↑ a b c Tatro, KT (2020). "Light Energy: Our Wasted Resource". Consilience (22): 65–72. doi:10.2307/26924963.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Dhakal, SD. (2004). [www.jstor.org/stable/resrep00837.10. Energy Use and CO2 Emissions in Cities and Future Challenges] (Report). Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. p. 43–74. www.jstor.org/stable/resrep00837.10. . Retrieved 10 Dec.2020.
- ↑ Chepesiuk, RC. (2009). "Missing the Dark: Health Effects of Light Pollution". Environmental Health Perspectives. 117 (1): A20–A27.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ a b Rodríguez, A. (2017). "Light Pollution and Seabird Fledglings: Targeting Efforts in Rescue Programs". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 81 (4): 734–741. doi:10.2307/26607663. Retrieved 10.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Letallec, TL. (2015). "Effects of light pollution on seasonal estrus and daily rhythms in a nocturnal primate". Journal of Mammalogy. 96 (2): 438–445. Retrieved 11.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Gaston, KJG. "Benefits and costs of artificial nighttime lighting of the environment". Environmental Reviews. 23 (1): 14–23. Retrieved 12.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Chang, A-MC. (2012). "Human responses to bright light of different durations". The Journal of Physiology. 590 (13): 3103–3112. doi:https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.226555. Retrieved 11.12.2020.
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- ↑ Reiter, RJR. (1996). "Antioxidant Actions of Melatonin". Advances in Pharmacology. 38: 103–117. doi:10.1016/s1054-3589(08)60981-3. Retrieved 10.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Srinivasan, VS. (2008). "Melatonin, environmental light, and breast cancer". Breast Cancer Res Treat. 108: 339–350. doi:10.1007/s10549-007-9617-5. Retrieved 9.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Schoenfeld, ERS. (2006). "Electromagnetic fields and breast cancer a Long Island study group: shift work, light at night and breast cancer on Long Island, New York". Am. J. Epidemiol. 158 (1): 358–366. doi:10.1093/aje/kwj211. PMID 16777931. Retrieved 11.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Duffy, JFD. (2005). "Entrainment of the human circadian system by light". J Biol Rhythms. 20 (4): 326–328. doi:10.1177/0748730405277983. PMID 16077152. Retrieved 11.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Berg, R. (2009). "GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT LIGHT POLLUTION". Journal of Environmental Health. 71 (9): 46–48. Retrieved 8.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Falchi, F. (2011). "Limiting the impact of light pollution on human health, environment and stellar visibility". Journal of Environmental Management. 92 (10): 2714–2722. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2011.06.029. PMID 21745709. Retrieved 12.12.2020.
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(help)CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) - ↑ Meier, JM. Hasenöhrl, UH. Krause, KK. Pottharst, MP.'Urban Light, Light pollution and Society', 2014. Routledge. p205
- ↑ CIE Research Strategy. Topic 5. 2016. http://files.cie.co.at/872_CIE%20Research%20Strategy%20%28August%202016%29%20-%20Topic%205.pdf
- ↑ Bureau of Street Lighting, City of Los Angeles. LA Lights Strategic Plan 2020-2025. [online]. 2020 Oct [Accessed 14 December 2020]. Available from: http://bsl.lacity.org/downloads/strategic_plan.pdf
- ↑ The World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. India: Energy-Efficient Street Lighting Implementation and Financing Solutions. 2015 Jun [Accessed 14 December 2020] Available from: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/22275/India000Energy0Financing0Solutions.pdf?sequence=1
- ↑ "Benefits and costs of artificial nighttime lighting of the environment". Environmental Reviews 23 (1): 14-23. Retrieved 12.12.2020
- ↑ Donohoo JD. Hattie. JH. Eells, RE. ‘The Power of Collective Efficacy’. Leading the Energized School. 2018. Vol. 75. No. 6, Pages 40-44. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar18/vol75/num06/The-Power-of-Collective-Efficacy.aspx
- ↑ Penta, JLP. ‘Hannah Arendt: On Power’. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy. 1996. vol. 10, no. 3. pp. 210–229. Accessed: 2020. Accessed from: JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25670190.