How do we define a city and its lighting as ‘smart’? The survey which forms phase one of our research collaboration with Luci (Lighting Urban Community International)- has been launched! We eagerly await the creative contributions of municipalities across the world to explore, debate and expand upon what it means for a city to employ ‘smart lighting’.

Whilst innovation is led by talk of ‘smart’ cities, how do cities’ definitions of ‘smart’ vary? How is this reflected in policy considerations and its implementation? And how can this innovation be refined by dialogues between social research and lighting design? There is much to learn from the conversations and debates we already see taking place and we are excited to be moving forward on this new global comparative study to map pathways to smart lighting.