Tackling
public lighting inequalities
Addressing public lighting inequality through 5 key foci
Our mission
Considering life after dark in informal settlements is a component so often neglected when considering infrastructure provision. Together with communities, we aim to address public lighting inequalities by co-creating lighting strategies to improve everynight life. We consolidate knowledge and promote the use of decentralised solar lighting infrastructure as a means to provide more adequate, bottom-up public lighting that adapts to the unique needs of each community we work with.
We have identified five key factors that require attention in public lighting solutions for informal settlements listed adjacent.
LightUp
A community of practice
Collectively, we are working in six informal settlements in Khayelitsha, Cape Town to address public lighting inequalities on the ground. Through forming a community of practice, our projects are able to collectively learn and grow, and form an evidence-base aiming to influence public lighting policy specific to informal settlements.
01
The value of participation and co-design and implementation have proved to be hugely beneficial in providing lighting solutions that adequately address a communities needs. We are further exploring the value of co-design by developing a lighting strategy for 400 wall-mounted solar lights in a community of 4000 households.
CO-CREATING
02
We are conducting a cost-benefit analysis of lighting solutions in informal settlements to understand whether wall-mounted solar lights are an economically viable solution for the government to adopt.
ECONOMIC VIABILITY
03
After the successful implementation of wall-mounted lighting in PJS Informal Settlement in 2021, we aim to find viable solutions to support bottom-up maintenance and management of wall-mounted solar public lighting. Our hope is to demonstrate the benefit of bottom-up maintenance as a viable approach to managing state-provided infrastructure in informal settlements.
BOTTOM-UP MAINTENANCE
04
Can decentralised solar lighting solutions be replicated at scale, making it more viable to be adopted as an official public lighting technology by the government? We are testing scaling-up wall-mounted solar lights through projects in four small informal settlements in Khayelitsha
SCALABILITY
05
Installing high-quality, context-specific wall-mounted public solar lighting is vital for the longevity of the infrastructure. Through each project, we try to refine the technical detailing of wall-mounted solar lights to manufacture lights that provide adequate light, are durable, easy to install yet theft resistant, and easy to maintain.
TECHNICAL INNOVATION
Our Projects
The Group
ETH Zurich
PJS Leadership Committee
People's Environmental Planning
Majru
People's Environmental Planning
Transition Partners
Media and Publications
Read
Night in the informal city
by Yael Borofsky
A doctoral thesis looking at how limited public lighting infrastrucutre shapes life after dark in informal settlements, measuring the impact of an alternative public lighting solution.
Read
'Layita
Khayelitsha' campaign
in Drive press release
Read this press release by inDrive to learn more about the Layita Khayelitsha campaign that LightUp is collaborating on, using the power of music to light up Khayelitsha.
Watch
PJS Informal Solar Project
by Green Cape
This short documentary supported by the City of Cape Town tells the story of the solar lighting project in PJS, interviewing some residents of PJS some actors involved in making the project happen.
Watch
Everynight Life Screenplay
by Stephanie Briers & Ilze Myburgh
A short film depicting everynight life in informal settlements through the eyes of a young boy. This film was create with the community of PJS Informal Settlement and shot in PJS,. Cick below to watch the trailer.
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Read
The violence of lighting in Khayelitsha
by Stephanie Briers
Read about the history of high-mast lighting in Cape Town and why alternative public lighting solutions are necessary for domecratic South Africa.
Read
Infrastructures of Freedom
by Stephanie Briers
This book explores darkness and everynight life in informal settlements, looking at the process and impact of a co-created solar public lighting project in Khayelitsha.
Listen
Views & News on CapeTalk radio
Clarence Ford with Noah Schermbrucker
Radio presenter Clarence Ford interviews Noah Schermbrucker from People's Environmental Planning, on issues around public lighting provision in informal settlements and the work we are doing in LightUp.
Read
There’s a way to sort out lighting in informal settlements
by Noah Schermbrucker
Solar powered public lights are better than high-mast lights, collaborative Cape Town project suggests, read more in this GroundUp article.
Read
Shadows to light
by Yael Borofsky
This article shares the project in PJS Informal Settlement and the process followed to install almost 800 solar lights during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read
Lighting informal settlements
Andrew Tuck with Stephanie Briers
In informal settlements, lights play an important role in terms of safety and to provide a better quality of life. Listen to this interview on our project to test lighting solutions in Khayelitsha.
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