Examining Artificial Night Lighting Of Urban Commercial Corridors: The Case Of Hayahualet Mazoria, Addis Ababa

Abstract

Light is the most important environmental element that helps our eyes provide information about what’s going around us. Over lighting is one of the most rapidly increasing issues that is affecting the environment and people’s visual comfort. This research aims to identify the intensity of artificial lighting from the retail’s frontage along the corridor from Hayahulet Mazoria square up to Awraris hotel and assess the perception of passers-by along the sidewalk. The study used both probability and non-probability sampling methods. The purposive sampling technique was used when selecting the four shops that have 20-watt white color LED lamps, but differ in the number of lamps they hold. The simple random sampling was taken from a manually counted population of passersby. The data collection was done by adopting a mixed-method consisting of the questionnaire, in situ observation, and measurements of lighting level. Vogels’ (2008) instrument was adopted to determine the user’s perception and visual comfort. The result of this research shows that the average intensity of lighting from shops 2,3, and 4 is above the allowed lighting level of 1500lux for outdoor frontage at commercial areas set by MLO,2011. The overall perception of user experience shows that coziness is negatively related to brightness, glare, and color temperature. Furthermore, the regression model showed brighter shop creates an atmosphere that is perceived as less cozy and more stimulating. Based on the findings, shop 1 which has 6 LED lamps is the coziest, the less stimulating and less terrifying shop. In contrast, shop 4 with the highest number of LED lamps is the less cozy, the most stimulating and the most terrifying shop. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the overused of artificial lights at night is unnoticed but causes a physical, emotional, and physiological impact on people. It is highly recommended to further study the issue and enact an ordinance to manage the over lighting of artificial night lighting