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HOW SMARTER LIGHTING

CAN HELP CITIES EVOLVE

From harbour walks to neighbourhood streets,
light shapes how a city is experienced after dark.
It influences how people move. How safe they
feel. And how public spaces come to life. But
lighting also shapes something less visible: the
way cities use energy, manage resources and
invest for the future.

Cities are already recognizing that potential.
A 2025 assessment found that nearly 90% of
participating cities include lighting measures
in their climate action plans. In half of those
cities, lighting accounts for more than 5% of total
electricity consumption.

Lighting has already shown what large-
scale transformation can achieve. In 2006, it
accounted for around one fifth of global electricity
consumption. Thanks to advances in LED
technology, that share has dropped to 9%, even
as demand for lighting has continued to grow.
Refurbished streetlights in Tuborg Harbour, Copenhagen.
Now, cities have the chance to build on that
progress. The next wave of lighting is smarter, more up-to-the-minute performance. Each upgraded
circular and more efficient. It is not only about luminaire uses 32.7 watts instead of 115 watts.
replacing technology that is outdated or reaching That makes it around 3.5 times more efficient.
the end of its life. It is about helping existing
infrastructure deliver more value over time. Another example is from Grenchen, Switzerland.
Instead of replacing existing streetlights, the
That shift is already visible in places like Tuborg city retained the original aluminium housings.
Harbour in Copenhagen, which, instead of By upgrading and adding smart connectivity,
replacing its historic streetlights, has instead Grenchen created a lighting network that can be
refurbished them. The fittings have been part monitored and managed through one lighting
of the harbour’s identity since the 1990s. Today, system. The approach delivered up to 76% lower
they are being upgraded to LED technology and CO2 emissions and around 30% lower energy
reinstalled. The result is a familiar design with consumption.

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