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| Uplighting sidewalk tree canopies with green tint - all photos from Ian Dryden |
A few months ago I met award-winning industrial designer
Ian Dryden from the city of Melbourne, Australia. He taught me about Melbourne's street lighting program. Given the links between fear and street (in)activity, this is a very big deal.
Most cities get poor grades for night lighting. Melbourne gets an A.
Melbourne has an incredibly active downtown night life. It wasn't always. One long-term resident told me it was once a waste-land with few people daring to walk dark downtown streets. When the city changed direction and chose to attract an evening crowd to socialize in a safe, positive way, designers and planners stepped up.
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| Decorative lighting above and below bridges |
Ian and his colleagues were among them. Melbourne's public lighting program is sophisticated. It creates both a luminous and carbon neutral city, no small feat with current energy costs.
They light parks, tram stops, news stands, benches, and sidewalks. They string interesting blue (and energy efficient) LEDs above intersections. Where most cities inadvertently obstruct street lights with tree canopies, Melbourne embellishes them with tinted uplighting.
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| New induction lighting for Swanson Street tram stops |
This week the 2014 Australian
Smart Lighting Summit is in Melbourne and they get to celebrate among lighting peers. They should. Congratulations!
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| Melbourne park lighting |
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| Blue LEDs over intersection - a canopy of stars |
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