Philips 2010 Annual Report Download - page 39

3 Our strategy in action 3.6 - 3.6
Annual Report 2010 39
To retain both private and corporate citizens, cities must
maintain safety and security, by preventing crime, and by
providing safer streets for both motorists and
pedestrians. Choosing the right lighting can make a world
of difference. For example, at the same light level, more
than 80% of people feel safer with bright, white light than
with traditional yellow street-lighting solutions. White
light’s high levels of perceived brightness and superior
color rendering help people feel safer and make it easier
to distinguish objects, colors, shapes and other details.
Well-designed urban lighting not only provides city
residents with safe, livable environments, but also urban
spaces that are unique and beautiful, and that welcome
recreation. This enriches the city fabric, attracting new
residents, new businesses and inward investment that
boosts tourism, retailing and other boons to economic
growth and employment.
Commuters in Hong Kong enjoy brighter and safer journeys at night
thanks to our LED and ceramic metal-halide lighting on the new
Stonecutters Bridge.
The right light - no less, and no more
Lighting must play a balanced role in the urban landscape.
We believe that our lighting solutions, powered by
innovative technologies such as LED, can create more
value, more beauty, more safety and more visibility – and
yet can do so with less consumed power and less
environmental impact. City authorities could, for
example, save around EUR 3 billion in energy costs and 10
million tons of CO2 a year, just by switching from older
road lighting to our latest energy-efficient technology. No
less important, light is encroaching upon our natural habits
– affecting both our human sleep patterns (and therefore
our health and well-being), as well as the reproductive and
migratory patterns of animals. Night skies in densely
populated cities can, for example, be as much as 500 times
brighter than our ‘natural’ night skies. We don’t want light
all the time, everywhere, so our flexible solutions offer
exactly the right amount of light, in the right places, at the
right time.
“To me, lighting design is not about just giving light to a space. It’s about
giving the best light to the people, to give them love of their own space
and time.”