Light Justice

Resources

Articles & Books

Omnipresence Weaponizes Light,” Light Justice June 2022

With Good Lighting and Justice for All,” Lighting Design + Application September 2021 by Edward Bartholomew and Mark Loeffler

Light Justice in Action,” Lighting Design + Application February 2022 by Edward Bartholomew and Mark Loeffler

Light+Justice,” NOMAct Intersections Q1 2022 by Edward Bartholomew and Mark Loeffler

Lighting for Equitable Revitalization,” Connecticut Main Street Center April 2022 Blog by Edward Bartholomew and Mark Loeffler

Public Lighting and the Urban Wealth Gap,” Brown Political Review by Isabella Creatura

Pedestrian fatalities: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-08/-safe-streets-are-not-safe-for-black-lives
and https://www.npr.org/2021/03/23/980438205/americas-roads-are-getting-deadlier-and-fatality-rates-are-worse-for-minorities

Defending Black Lives Means Banning Facial Recognition,” by Tawana Petty

Diversity: Redefining ‘Good’,” Lighting Design + Application April 2022 by Alana Shepherd

Redlining history: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/28/redlining-was-banned-50-years-ago-its-still-hurting-minorities-today/

NYPD Omnipresence: https://untappedcities.com/2018/03/07/cities-101-why-are-nypd-floodlights-illuminating-nyc-parks-and-housing-developments/

Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness by Simone Browne: https://www.dukeupress.edu/dark-matters

Design Justice by Sasha Costanza-Chock: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/design-justice

EquityXDesign: https://medium.com/equity-design/racism-and-inequity-are-products-of-design-they-can-be-redesigned-12188363cc6a

Research

“Reducing Crime Through Environmental Design” https://www.nber.org/papers/w25798​

Light pollution is inequitable: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935120308549

Light pollution is a health hazard: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/outdoor-light-night-breast-cancer/

 

 

In The News


April 28, 2022 | CNN 
Article about lighting for crime reduction quotes IDA director Ruskin Hartley while missing the full picture on the equitable value of well-designed permanent luminaires instead of aggressive, unjust temporary floodlights – but at least brings attention to the issue:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/28/us/lighting-study-new-york-study/index.html

June 30, 2021 | New Yorker
Article and video take on the NYPD’s Omnipresence floodlighting tactic oppressing public housing residents: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/the-controversial-floodlights-illuminating-new-york-citys-public-housing-developments


 

 

Additional resources will be added on an ongoing basis.