The Human and Social Dimension of Urban Lightscapes

Pourfathollah, Maedeh; NAbizadeh, َAlireza

doi:10.22124/psug.2025.9386

The Human and Social Dimension of Urban Lightscapes

Document Type : Translation

Authors

¹ university of guilan

² University of guilan

10.22124/psug.2025.9386

Abstract

In recent years, the human and social dimension of urban lightscape has become a
new theme of interest of both research and design practice in the lighting domain.
The focus of this book is to explore new criteria and characteristics of the humanand
social-scale lighting by considering human psychology in the design of the
lighting of modern nocturnal cities. The book identifies a new area of lighting
design research and practice that focus on the nocturnal urban experience of people
in terms of emotional and cognitive perception, along with behaviours to achieve
more accessible, sociable, hospitable and sustainable cities.
The recent technological advent of solid-state lighting (SSL) and digital control
systems is envisioning new possible intelligent applications for urban lighting
connected to the wider concept of smart cities. This technological transformation
could drive a radical and meaningful change of the contemporary cities at night
when adding social value to the urban experience. By exploring the human- and
social-scale lighting design criteria, the urban lighting design practice could provide
good-quality lighting: visual performances, visual comfort, security and safety
perception, visual ambiance and social experiences. To assess these psychological
aspects of lighting design from the human and social perspective, this book identifies
and compares new tools and research methodologies for knowledge acquisition
when tackling with complex issues about the relationship of lighting, people
and city.

Graphical Abstract