the essentials of effective urban road lighting
Major urban roads which wind through the busy
city area support mixed traffic conditions. Often,
these roads lead through prestigious city areas and
commercial centers, which project the image of the
city. The challenge is to light up urban roads that
ensure the safety of road users, facilitate easy traffic
flow as well as helping to improve the city image.
Excellent aesthetics
In today’s competitive world, cities are competing
against each other to attract more investments
and tourists. Most modern cities are investing
to improve city infrastructure and aspire to have
buildings with modern architecture. To enhance
city image, the appearance of luminaires and
the use of appropriate lamps are extremely
important to compliment the city architecture.
Luminaires bearing good aesthetics can help
improve the city skyline.
Uniform low glare lighting
Lighting requirements on major urban roads, which
carry the bulk of motorized traffic, are extremely
critical. Adequate lighting level, with good
uniformity and low glare, is crucial in creating
optimal visibility without compromising on visual
comfort. The road users must be able to clearly
see what lies ahead throughout the entire journey.
This demands luminaires with good optics design
as well as the ability to produce well controlled,
low-glare light beams.
Low cost of ownership
A majority of the cost of road lighting is devoted
to the masts, cables, trenches and ducts. By using
luminaires and lamps which guarantee high
technical performance, fewer masts are required.
Luminaires with high optical efficiency, coupled
with the use of dimming circuits, can save
substantial energy and costs.
Easy maintenance
Easy maintenance is important in contributing to
cost savings. Luminaire maintenance during the day
is not only risky, but also obstructive to traffic.
Night-time maintenance is an option, but a costly
one. The ideal solution is provided by lamps which
boast long life and specially-designed luminaires
with a high degree of IP protection that can be
maintained easily.
DESIGNED BY PHILIPS DESIGN HONG KONG 2004