Smart lighting for Amsterdam’s Hoekenrodeplein square
The City of Amsterdam is experimenting with a smart lighting scheme for the newly renovated Hoekenrodeplein square in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost (southeast) district.
Hoekenrodeplein, a large modern square with shops, hotels, and music near Amsterdam Arena, the city’s main football stadium and mega concert venue, has recently been rebuilt and spruced up by the city.
“We wanted to turn this square into a safe and pleasant place to live and use, and took the opportunity to benefit from this renovation process to explore the potential that connected lighting could bring to such a space,” says Hans Akkerman, Public Lighting Manager at the City of Amsterdam.
Adaptive lighting, combined with cameras and a public WiFi network has been implemented in the square. The 144 LED street lights have their own IP-address, so they can be individually controlled from a distance or can automatically adapt through sensors.
The street lights can be adjusted to different circumstances such as a different atmosphere, a type of event or to the weather. The system can also enable dimming of lights, thereby saving more energy. “We hope that this will help create a more pleasant experience for users and that feeling of safety will increase,” says H. Akkerman.
The pilot is accompanied by a study conducted by the Intelligent Lighting Institute (ILI) of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) which will examine the impact of different lighting scenarios on how people experience safety and atmosphere.
This initiative is the fruit of the smart lighting cooperation between Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Rotterdam – the project Smart Lights in Metropolitan areas – following the signature of a covenant by the elected representatives of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven in October 2012.
The city plans to further expand these smart street lights to the Arena Boulevard and in the surrounding area. It also plans to integrate diverse communication opportunities for visitors, the food service industry and retailers in the future. It is meanwhile working on a new ambitious policy framework on lighting.
This article is from Cities & Lighting magazine. Click here to download Cities & Lighting n°4
Photo credits
© Ronne Vinkx courtesy karres+brands