Stad i ljus : hållbar utveckling och ljusföroreningar i samband med planering av artificiellt ljus

Sammanfattning: Today, artificial light is considered to be an obvious part of cities and it can fulfill many functions and purposes. Natural light and darkness are expected to return in longer as well as shorter life cycles of all living organisms since light affects their existence. Light is especially important for the ability of humans to see and move freely, which has resulted in the world being more and more illuminated. In line with an increase in artificial lighting, municipal planning has started to develop plans regarding light in cities. As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate and analyse how Stockholm, Gothenburg och Malmo approach lighting in relation to its effect on its surroundings and sustainable development. According to previous research, increased lighting might foster social sustainability while simultaneously affect ecological sustainability negatively unless the lighting is planned in a balanced way. Badly used lighting results in light pollution and that must be minimised. A thorough document analysis of the cities’ various planning documents has been performed. In those documents, the results vary. Firstly, Stockholm’s lighting plans aim to promote architectural and aesthetic values while, secondly, Gothenburg carries out broader work in which the city is a member of an international network and, thirdly, Malmo has engaged in lighting planning considerably longer than the other two. In conclusion, it can be established that each city approaches lighting in different ways. Shared between all three is that they must improve their sustainable long term lighting planning because, today, problems appear between social and ecological sustainability. In essence, the study contributes with deepened knowledge of how lighting planning is conducted in the cities. In the future, it will be of interest to study how light pollution might decrease as a result of urbanisation.