Lighting columns, we all know, are becoming ever-more versatile linchpins of the future smart city. However, while data remains the key to unlocking smart cities, it is asset management that will make them last
By Rebecca Hatch
For much of the past decade, the lighting sector, we all know, has been at the centre of conversations around smart cities. Connected assets, adaptive lighting and remote monitoring have become well-established concepts within the industry.
But while the technology continues to evolve, local authorities are still grappling with how to turn these solutions into something that can be delivered consistently and at a bigger scale.
At the same time, the role of lighting infrastructure is expanding. Lighting columns are no longer just mechanisms that provide illumination. They can support a number of services, generate valuable data and help authorities make intelligent decisions about the places they manage.
Most councils already understand what smart infrastructure can offer. Implementing it is another story. They’re working with ageing assets, fragmented datasets that don’t give a clear picture and competing priorities, all of which make it difficult to put ideas into action. But at a time when councils are being asked to do more with less, making the most of their existing infrastructure feels like a shrewd choice.
STARTING WITH PEOPLE, NOT TECHNOLOGY
The most successful smart infrastructure projects tend to start with a simple question: what do communities actually need? For lighting professionals, safety, visibility and reliability will always be top of mind.
But we can think bigger and encourage our clients to do the same. When we see it as a tool that can improve people’s lives, wellbeing and community, it can be easier to show the value in upgrading the infrastructure. One way of doing that is by considering how lighting influences people’s experience of a place.
Adaptive lighting systems, for example, respond in real time to pedestrian and traffic movements to create places that are better suited to how people use them. Colour psychology, for example, can make public spaces, from underpasses to bridges, feel welcoming and inviting.
This was central to our delivery of new structural lighting under the Hammersmith Flyover with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (pictured). Warmer tones can create a sense of comfort, while cooler colours support calm, wayfinding and a stronger perception of safety, helping authorities tailor environments to the needs of different communities and locations.
Councils can change the way they manage assets to generate efficiencies, too, and free up space for new ways of doing things. Heat mapping and risk profiling use data to help authorities identify patterns of wear, recurring issues and areas where assets are under the greatest strain.
This allows resources to be targeted where they’re needed most, rather than simply reacting to problems as they happen. By making existing infrastructure work harder, authorities can deliver more for their communities without significantly building from scratch.
SHINING A LIGHT ON DATA
One of the biggest barriers to smarter infrastructure isn’t technology at all, however. It’s data. Local authorities are managing thousands of assets, spread across multiple systems and teams, making it difficult for them to plan investment with confidence or build a clear picture of network performance.
That’s why (as we’re doing) the future is very much about creating a single reliable view of asset performance. We’re working with our clients, such as Westminster City Council, to bring together different datasets and platforms, combined with GIS tools and analytics.
It combines multiple assets in one platform – columns, carriageway condition and other infrastructure. It also combines operational data, inspections, asset records and third-party information to create a trusted and up to date view of the network.
To emphasise, this isn’t about a commercial sales pitch, it’s to illustrate what is, to my mind, a broader, more profound shift for the lighting sector. Namely, that the value of an asset lies not only in what it does but in the information it provides and, from there, the decisions that evidence enables.
BRINGING DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES TOGETHER
As lighting infrastructure becomes increasingly connected, the way we work with it needs to evolve alongside it. Historically, disciplines such as lighting engineering, GIS, asset management and data analysis have often operated independently.
However, to realise the full potential of connected infrastructure, these specialisms need to come together, enabling us to view challenges through operational, digital and strategic lenses rather than from an engineering perspective alone.
By pooling our expertise, we can help clients develop a more complete understanding of their infrastructure and identify opportunities that might otherwise end up being overlooked. This, in turn, enables local authorities to move beyond day-to-day asset management, make better use of their existing infrastructure and unlock greater value through more informed, data-led decision-making.
WHERE INFRASTRUCTURE AND INSIGHT MEET
Finally, it is important to note that many of the tools needed to create smarter, more connected places already exist. The challenge is giving authorities the confidence and data needed to use them effectively, along with partners who will help them on the journey.
Lighting columns are more versatile in their use than they’ve ever been, and the data collected from them is fast becoming a valuable resource in its own right. As authorities balance budget pressures against sustainability targets and expectations from their communities, the ability to turn infrastructure into meaningful insight may prove just as important as the infrastructure it’s gathered from.
Smart cities won’t be shaped by technology alone, but by how well we understand, manage and make use of the assets that we have. And lighting infrastructure has an increasingly significant role to play.
Rebecca Hatch MBA IEng FILP is digital urban solutions director at FM Conway and a former President of the ILP
This is an abridged version of the article that appears in the November-December edition of Lighting Journal. To read the full article, simply click on the page-turner to your right.
Image: FM Conway
