Abstract
Urban environments have become significantly brighter and more illuminated, and cities now consider media architecture and non-static, self-luminous LED displays an essential element of their strategy to attract residents, visitors, and tourists in the hours after dark. Unfortunately, most often, they are not designed with care, consideration, and awareness, nor do they support the visual wellbeing and circadian rhythms of humans. They also increase light pollution which has an adverse effect on the environment. The aim of this study was to estimate the scale of the negative impact of 28 non-static, self-luminous LED shop window displays within a real-life city context along the main shopping street Banhofstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland. An experimental field measurement survey investigation was performed to identify visual luminance with commonly available tools such as a luminance meter and a digital reflex camera for luminance photography. Moreover, the most important global approaches to reduce light pollution were evaluated in the form of existing guidelines, technical standards, and laws, all of which should be considered when specifying illuminated digital advertisements. A literature review and survey results both confirmed the extent of the problem and highlighted, too, the need to better measure, apply, and manage this new technology. The authors’ proposal for improvements involve practical recommendations for the design and implementation of future projects which can positively guide and direct this growing trend.
Highlights
In recent decades, urban environments have become significantly brighter and more illuminated (Figure 1), and cities consider lighting an essential element of their strategy to attract residents, visitors, and tourists in the hours after dark [1,2]
In the presented research study, a field measurement survey was carried out to determine the extent of light pollution and the amount of obstructive light produced by non-static, self-luminous LED
DBeadriisnpglianyms iwndasth3a8t 42.54c6d(/mFi2gius rthee8), with a standamradxidmeuvmiaftaiocande(DluSm) idnaensccerilbiminitgtothmeianmimoizuenutrboafnvlaigrhiatbpioliltluytioofn,athseetreosfullutsminidniacantcede dthaattathvealues of 446.50 avnadlueasswtaenodbtaaridneedrirnooruorfetmhpeirmicealarnes(eSaDrcMh e)xocefe8d4e.d38th1e1p1e8r9m4i.ssBibelaersitnagndianrdms ibnedtwteheant1225ancdd/1m8 2 is the maximum facade luminance limit to minimize urban light pollution, the results indicated that the values we obtained in our empirical research exceeded the permissible standards between 12 and 18 times, considering the standard error
Summary
Urban environments have become significantly brighter and more illuminated (Figure 1), and cities consider lighting an essential element of their strategy to attract residents, visitors, and tourists in the hours after dark [1,2]. One can observe that in commercial and institutional quarters, these parts of a city can become dark and unwelcoming places with an absence of people in the streets To overcome this problem and inject more life into certain city areas, a new trend has emerged. Mixed-use development integrates retail (i.e., shops and restaurants) enterprises which are often located on the ground floor, with commercial and residential properties on the floors above While this change increases economic prosperity and socializing in the night hours to create livable cities [3], increased light pollution can negatively impact the area and reduce the quality of life for residents [4,5]. An extensive background study was undertaken for a period of six months This involved investigating the global approaches to reduce light pollution from media architecture and animated LED displays. In the context of this paper, in order to fully absorb and understand the content, definitions for the following four terms have been provided: (1) media architecture; (2) non-static LED advertising; (3) visual light clutter; and lastly, (4) light pollution (Table 1)
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