ELSE, Experience of Lighting Sustainability in the Environment

Sustainability calls for a social, environmental and economical approach. On the contrary, the traditional idea of sustainable urban lighting is based just on economical and environmental-technical aspects. Because lighting is primarily intended for people, urban lighting should be focused on the human experience with a qualitative social engaging role. The analytical phase of the research is based on a multiple-method survey strategy: ELSE is a virtual, indirect visual survey based on the observation of lighting stimuli in order to evaluate, from a collective point of view, the social sustainability of the public urban lighting. This paper presents the starting results of the on-going study about the social sustainable lighting: data shows that people demands for a deeper experience of social participation, safety perception and energy savings with the meaningful use of interactive and colourful layered lighting effects.