Leaders in other regions are concerned about the implications for residents and the economy
In Spain we can see some back and forth between leaders in the country with varying perspectives on the recent energy saving laws put in place, so one might expect a similarly mixed reaction in the Middle East.

A law was approved in Spain that requires shops, supermarkets, public buildings, and places of worship including tourist attractions to turn off their lights by 10pm. However, Spain’s President did not agree to turn off the lights in the capital city of Madrid due to her concerns that the darkness will cause “insecurity, poverty, and sadness.” Calls were also made for a reduction in the number of lights put up during the festive season, to which Madrid’s Mayor refused, stating that they are a “tourist, commercial and economic attraction for the city”, although he did agree to ensure they were energy efficient.

There is also concern among leaders of countries that have enforced similar rules, about the cost implications. Despite the initial costs, updating all lighting fixtures to produce more sustainable lighting will result in long term savings from more efficient direction of light and less wasted light, meaning less energy is required to produce the same amount of usable light in an area.

The light reducing measures in Spain will have a positive environmental impact and will help the country towards its target to reduce gas and oil consumption by 5%, as well as help with possible fuel shortages throughout the winter. Other countries have adopted similar measures including France, where consumption is reported to have decreased by 25%.

Do we need light for safety?
An interesting question to ask regarding the President of Spain’s concerns is why do we feel safer in well-lit areas, and are we actually?

While there are fears that less light may convey an image of less security and less comfort for people in the city, studies suggest that lighter doesn’t mean safer, even though we may feel it.

The evidence is conflicting as there are so many other factors that are more important to our safety, but studies have found that dimming or switching off lights does not result in increased crime rates. Evenly distributed lighting might be more important than bright lighting for people to feel safe.

Perhaps it is worth having brighter cities for our own peace of mind, but is it worth the trade-off for the negative health and environmental effects?
Another thing to consider is that by reducing or removing city lighting to protect wildlife and help residents become more in touch with their circadian rhythms, we may end up drastically reducing social interactions and the number of minutes spent walking per day and result with alternative negative health impacts for the community.

Navigating at night is difficult without well-lit streets, but this may be because we are so used to the streets being so brightly lit.
When our eyes are adjusted to darker skies, they adapt so that we can see what we need to see. The moon and stars used to be bright enough on their own for humans to move around safely, we just haven’t allowed this adjustment to take place for us to realise it now. However, this might feel like a big and daunting step.

What are some of the regulations surrounding our use of lighting in cities?
Guidelines and regulations surrounding our use of lighting and that aim to reduce light pollution will be effective in ensuring clients and designers abide by the same rules and ensuring the desired outcome is achieved. Without this, there will be too many conflicting priorities and motivations.

In Saudi Arabia we are seeing some stricter regulations being introduced with regards to energy consumption and lighting levels as part of the ASHRAE, LEED, and Mostadam standards.

Projects are required to comply to 65% of the regulations in total. In some ways this allows a little more leeway with certain elements, but at the same time it makes designing more challenging due to the need for designers to incorporate a strategy for how they will reconsider different parameters within the designs.

What can we do to reduce light pollution in cities?
We may wonder whether it is a reasonable trade off to switch our brightly lit cities for darker skies, but we shouldn’t need to completely forego one for the other. The best solution right now might be to find solutions that prevent negative effects while allowing the positive. In part 3 of this article series we will look into some specific recommendations for lighting strategies that will address light pollution in cities.

As lighting designers, it may seem unusual to be considering how to incorporate darkness into our work, but now we are reaching a pivotal point where we can embrace a new understanding of darkness within future ready lighting strategies to bridge the gap between dark skies and lighting.

Now that many more destinations and groups across the region are advocating about dark skies and the impacts of light pollution, perhaps the region is already on track towards gradually starting to gain greater awareness and support. This is important for darker skies in our cities to be a possibility, but until the market and the people are ready this is likely to progress slowly.

Dark sky guidelines are not set up with the aim to simply have all lights turned off at night, but to provide options that can create improvements across different areas that will help cities to operate more efficiently while creating economic, environmental and health benefits as a result.

Cities are diverse and have diverse requirements. Our goal as lighting designers is never to unify the look and feel of different neighbourhoods, but to accentuate their use, dynamics, and requirements, through the correct implementation of lighting solutions, brightness, timings, lux levels and other elements to achieve the desired outcome.

The International Dark-Sky Association stated “There is a difference between well-lit and brightly lit. It is possible to have a well-lit town with low levels of light pollution” so perhaps the best route for the Middle East to take at this stage is to tone down the excess light and make gradual improvements, without turning it all off and changing the lifestyle that currently suits its many residents.

Paula Cortés is WSP Middle East’s Head of Lighting Design, who brings a decade of lighting design experience from a variety of international projects. Her goals are to foster industry discussion about sustainable lighting solutions in the region and to develop unique concepts and outstanding designs that are recognised across the region.

 Check out our previous episodes below.