For public lighting that meets the safety and comfort needs of all public space users
The energy crisis of 2022 has prompted many local authorities to reconsider their street lighting. Some cities, such as Bordeaux, chose to switch off lighting entirely. While these reductions were driven by economic imperatives, they also serve as important levers in the energy transition and biodiversity protection. However, such measures can also produce adverse effects if the needs of users are not properly taken into account.
Based on a field survey, this intervention proposes refocusing lighting strategies around human needs: adapting schedules to the day of the week, improving safety for active mobility, addressing the needs of vulnerable populations, identifying conflicting uses, and anticipating issues related to light pollution.
The aim is to rethink practices and tools based on actual uses, in order to provide spatially and temporally adapted public lighting that combines safety and comfort — lighting that is on when needed and switched off when not. The goal is to create more inclusive night-time public spaces that support, without compromise, all the levers of the energy transition.
Speaker: Diego Mermoud-Plaza, Urban Planner, Bordeaux Aquitaine Urban Planning Agency
Diego Mermoud-Plaza holds a doctorate in geography and has been working as an urban planner at the Bordeaux Aquitaine Urban Planning Agency – a’urba – since early 2025. His work focuses on mobility and public space, with an approach that incorporates users’ perceptions, representations, and emotional experiences.
In 2022 and 2023, he led a sociological study for the City of Bordeaux on the needs and expectations surrounding the modulation of public lighting. This project was carried out on behalf of Bureau Mobil’homme (BMH), a spin-off of the Urban Sociology Laboratory (LaSUR) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).
(This presentation is in English)
