Reducing the light pollution in settlement units areas – Comparative case studies

Abstract

Dark-sky areas are a form of night landscape protection and reduction of light pollution (LP), but also a new direction of inhabited and urban areas development. Yet still the lack of social awareness of artificial light at night (ALAN) exposure issues is widespread. While the technical aspects of outdoor lighting modernization used for reduction are recognized and continuously elaborated, there is no specific scheme of the dark sky communities formation processes. In contrast to isolated areas of dark-sky protection, they are a challenge due to the accumulation of various functions and interests or spatial conflicts. The article is an attempt to determine how and why particular programs work or fail to work on the examples of the Polish village of Sopotnia Wielka and the Scottish town of Moffat. It seems that the legal factors are decisive, but other important aspects like social or planning come to the fore.