Urban lighting is rapidly re-emerging as a matter of public debate. Lighting as a means of place-making and energy-savings, an on-going phase of rapid innovation in lighting technology and the growing awareness that light can constitute a form of pollution raise many questions that have yet to be answered. The first comprehensive compilation of current discussions on urban lighting and light pollution in the social sciences and humanities, Urban Lighting, Light Pollution and Society makes contributions to the evolving international debate. Interdisciplinary in nature, it draws a rich panorama of the manifold discourses connected with artificial illumination in the past and present.

Part I: Lighting up the City: Perceptions and Practices; Introduction; 1. Out of the Dark: A Brief History of Artificial Light in Outdoor Spaces; 2. The Transformation of American Urban Space - Early Electric Lighting, 1875-1915; 3. From Shakespearean Nights to Light Pollution: (Artificial) Light in Anglophone Literature; 4. The Emergence of Public Nightlife in Nineteenth Century Istanbul; 5. The Rich Potentialities of Light Festivals: Defamiliarisation, a Sense of Place and Convivial Atmospheres; Part II: Dimming it Down: Lighting Conflicts and Regulation; Introduction; 1. Lighting Conflicts from a Historical Perspective; 2. Regulating Urban Lighting - Prospects for Institutional Change; 3. Lighting Master Plans - Status Quo, Possibilities and Limitations; 4. Regulating Light Pollution in Europe: Legal Challenges and Ways Forward; 5. Designating Dark Sky Areas: Actors and Interests; Part III: Counting the Costs: Evaluating Light and Darkness; Introduction; 1. The Economics of Night-Time Illumination; 2. Residents' perceptions of light and darkness; 3. Improved Visibility of the Night Sky: An Economic Analysis; 4. The Value of the Night Sky; 5. Night lights - an indicator for the good life?; Towards a Brighter Future? - Conclusions for Lighting Research and Policy