The high rate of urbanization had a direct impact on the development of the urban lighting environment. The changing infrastructure of the city has transformed lighting into a multitasking tool. It helps to create a recognizable image of the city, highlight unique and significant objects, make urban spaces attractive and safe, and create a special atmosphere at night.

Megacities and historical cities have always been centers of attraction for foreign tourists and residents of our country. It’s worth recalling that cities are also the home to permanent residents. So the tasks of the lighting environment for life and the tourism sector are different.
As a rule, the city center is distinguished, full of sights and focused on tourism and recreation, and the periphery, where the bulk of the local population lives. At the same time, for a resident, the center can be both a part of the daily routine (for example, a trip to work, shopping, etc.), as well as a recreation area and new experiences (for example, when a person comes to the center for a walk, admire historical buildings, visit some cultural events). Therefore, speaking of a “tourist” and a “local resident”, we mean not only and not different groups of people in relation to their place of residence, but the different purpose of their stay in the urban environment, which means different needs and different focus of perception.

LET US TELL YOU WHICH TASKS LIGHTING DESIGN SOLVES FOR RESIDENTS OF THE CITIES

1 – FUNCTIONALITY AND SAFETY
Residents are constantly in the city opposed to tourists. And first of all, they need a comfortable, functional and safe environment. If in the central and historical part of the city the main emphasis is on creating a lighting image that travelers and tourists will see, where life goes on 24/7, in residential areas and developing territories the task is to organize a comfortable environment directly for residents. It’s necessary to create suitable conditions that ensure safety on roads, courtyards, and recreation areas with the help of lighting.
According to the laws of nature, every person has a need for both light and darkness. At night, when people are resting, there is no need to light up parking lots or playgrounds at full power. It is recommended to dim the light, or you can use sensors that monitor light conditions to adjust the brightness of lighting devices, or sensors that respond to movement or the presence of people.

2 – TRANSFORMATION AND CHANGES
When you are in a space where nothing changes for a long time, you have a feeling of tiredness from this place. For a person, changes, dynamics, even in a minimal manifestation, are important.
When renovations take place in residential areas (new playgrounds or sports grounds appear, flower beds and young seedlings are planted, or some other changes occur), lighting solutions must also transform with the environment. A variety of small architectural forms with built-in lighting, smart poles with cameras, wi-fi modules, spotlights with decorative effects, colored lighting – all this makes the everyday environment more diverse, richer and more aesthetic.

3 – AESTHETICS OF THE PLACE
If lighting fulfills its main tasks of creating a comfortable living environment, then the next step is aesthetic perception.
Remembering how Moscow looked like before 2011, when there were chaotic advertising signs and streamers everywhere, you understand that the ban on their placement was the right decision, and that the city looks completely different without them. Now we have an opportunity to see the architecture. Lighting solutions can make the urban environment even better.
It is necessary to strive to minimize visual noise (integration of lighting solutions into architecture) and to fight with the existing problem of large cities – “light pollution”. Conscious lighting solutions will help to make cities even more attractive, more convenient and reduce the negative impact on the environment.
Thus, talking about lighting for residents, we primarily focus on the quality of the environment in residential areas. At the same time, the basic tasks of functionality, comfort and safety are relevant for the whole city and for any users of urban spaces: both tourists and locals.

LET US TELL YOU WHICH TASKS LIGHTING DESIGN SOLVES FOR TOURISTS

1 – ATTRACTIVENESS AND ATTENDANCE
Attracting tourists is one of the measures to accumulate reserves and budgets, helping in constant development of cities.
Each person first of all perceives the surrounding space, assessing whether he likes what he sees or not. Lighting solutions allow you to create attractive images of the evening city, stimulating tourist activity. The more attractive, interesting, and comfortable the urban environment, the more often it occurs.

2 – NAVIGATION
Artificial lighting helps to navigate in space during darkness. For example, the illuminated spiers of skyscrapers dominating urban development become some kind of beacons, recognizable landmarks, thanks to which a person understands where he is and where he should move.
It is a mistake to assume that many illuminated objects and bright functional lighting help to navigate in the evening, because they improve visibility. In order to perform a navigational function with the help of lighting, it must reveal the structure of urban spaces and the city as a whole. A well-thought-out lighting composition, balanced by illumination and brightness levels, taking into account the hierarchy of illuminated objects, allows you to create a mental map of the evening city, which reflects the images of the main objects and the relationship between them. For example, at night in Moscow, the Garden Ring can be seen from afar, because it is highlighted by amber contour lighting of the upper tier of buildings.

3 – POSITIVE EMOTIONS
First of all, tourists come to other cities to get positive emotions that the environment creates. Positive emotions and a sense of celebration are always associated with bright colors and lots of lights. Therefore, a city filled with light is liked by tourists. They spend several busy days in it and return home.
Festive lighting shouldn’t be strictly colorful. Modern lighting solutions provide lighting scenarios for different tasks. For example, on weekdays, the architectural lighting of a building can be discreet, dimmed to half the power, switched on only on certain areas of facades or elements. On holidays or weekends, lighting can be turned on completely, dynamic scenarios on or other artistic techniques can be created.

4 – RECOGNITION AND IDENTITY
Lighting solutions in different countries of the world are different. This is due to the local culture, climate, psychology. The European restrained approach to the lighting solutions differs from the techniques that are popular in Asian countries, where they prefer bright, colorful, dynamic lighting. The evening appearance of cities shows identity and shows belonging to a certain culture, talks about values and preferences.
A lighting solution designed for a specific object can form a unique recognizable evening image. Moreover, the lighting image can recreate the day image or reveal it in a new way, and also become a point of attraction itself, for example, through the use of light installations and projections. Original lighting solutions transform the space and change the perception of the place, making the object recognizable, attractive, and special.