Shandong Province Releases Urban Lighting Management Standards: Integrating Luminaires with Landscape

To further improve the urban management standard system, regulate urban lighting management, and enhance the level of refined urban lighting management, the "Shandong Province Urban Refined Management Standards — Urban Lighting Management" was recently released.

Relevant officials from the Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development stated that the overall requirements of this standard are to comply with resource conservation and environmental friendliness, and to implement refined and smart management. The integrity rate of urban functional lighting facilities must be ≥95%. The lighting rate for main roads must be ≥98%, while for secondary roads and branch roads it must be ≥96%. The energy saving compliance rate for new roads must be 100%, and for existing roads ≥80%. The integrity rate of urban landscape lighting facilities must be ≥90%.

Luminaire settings blend with the landscape

For urban functional lighting, Shandong Province requires regular functional testing and cleaning of luminaires. Road sections or areas where the overall integrity rate of lighting facilities is below 90% or where lighting indicators seriously fail to meet standards shall undergo maintenance and retrofitting of their lighting facilities. Trees planted along newly built roads must not affect road lighting; for expanded or reconstructed roads, consultation with the landscape management department is required to transplant trees that affect lighting performance. Trees that do not meet safety distances due to natural growth shall be pruned promptly by relevant units upon notification by the urban lighting authority. Furthermore, if force majeure causes trees to seriously endanger the safe operation of urban lighting facilities, the urban lighting maintenance unit may take emergency measures to prune them and promptly report to the urban landscaping and greening authority.

The installation of urban landscape lighting luminaires shall comply with the principles of safety, concealment, and ease of maintenance, integrating with the landscape to avoid the impact of stray light on pedestrians and the surrounding environment. Luminaires shall be cleaned every six months; the laying of cables for landscape lighting facilities shall comply with the principles of safety and concealment, and should be hidden as much as possible within the building facade structure or preset cable corridors.

The effect of urban landscape lighting has a significant impact on the city's image and quality of living. The newly released standards require that urban landscape lighting designs be aesthetically pleasing, innovative, and clear, with content that is legal and healthy. Specifications and proportions must harmonize with buildings (structures) and the surrounding environment. The intensity, color, and design of the lighting must not resemble controlled or special-purpose lighting. Lighting facilities should be complete, fully functional, and clean. If patterns, text, or other displays are incomplete or facilities are damaged, they should be repaired or replaced promptly.

Relevant officials from the Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development specifically pointed out that urban lighting should strictly implement national and local safety standards and enforce the safety responsibility system. The property owners or maintenance management units of urban lighting facilities should be equipped with professional technical personnel, and urban lighting workers must hold certificates for working at heights, electrician licenses, and health certificates before starting work, while strictly complying with work safety regulations.

Nightscape lighting must not disturb residents' lives

To further strengthen management, Shandong Province requires that urban lighting be coordinated with the illuminated objects—such as buildings, roads, squares, landscaping, water bodies, and advertising signs—and their surrounding environments, while reflecting the characteristics and functions of the illuminated objects. Based on the overall urban layout and functional zoning, luminance levels should be classified to reasonably control zonal luminance, highlighting nightscape / landscape lighting for public areas with high foot traffic such as commercial streets and city squares, as well as for landmark buildings (structures) and major scenic spots.

At the same time, nightscape / landscape lighting and functional lighting should be coordinated to ensure economic rationality, meet usage functions, and achieve good landscape effects. They should comply with ecological environmental protection requirements and avoid light pollution. Spill light (stray light) from urban lighting facilities should avoid causing disability glare or discomfort glare to pedestrians and drivers; urban lighting facilities should avoid affecting the growth of trees, shrubs, and other flowers. Lighting facilities for new construction and renovation projects should be designed, constructed, and put into use simultaneously with the main project.

In accordance with standard requirements, urban lighting should conserve energy and protect the environment by adopting efficient, energy-saving, and aesthetically pleasing luminaires and light sources. Urban illumination facilities should utilize new materials, new technologies, and new processes to meet energy saving, environmental protection, and economic requirements. Nighttime illumination facilities must not affect residents' daily lives or the traffic safety of pedestrians and vehicles. It is not advisable to use linear outlining alone for nighttime illumination; electrical wires should not be exposed, and red and green light sources should be avoided to prevent interference with moving vehicles.

Commercial areas such as commercial buildings and pedestrian streets should feature rich colors, innovative designs, and diverse materials to create a vibrant commercial atmosphere. Squares, landmark buildings, and tall structures should emphasize artistry and modernity in their lighting design to enhance the quality of the urban nightscape. Government agencies and public institutions should adopt simple, dignified, and elegant lighting that highlights industry characteristics. River channels and hillsides in urban areas serve to enhance the atmosphere and showcase details; luminaires with soft light should be used to avoid strong reflections and intense glare. Residential buildings should primarily feature simple top floodlighting, supplemented by simple linear outlines.

Handle within 2 hours of failure

When the urban road lighting management authority discovers a fault in urban road lighting or receives public complaints or media exposure, it shall immediately conduct on-site verification and organize maintenance and emergency repairs. In the event of a failure of urban road lighting facilities, personnel shall arrive at the site for handling within 2 hours after discovery or receipt of the report, achieving a timely fault resolution rate of 99%.

The administrative departments and management agencies for urban road lighting shall establish and improve responsibility systems for safe operations, dynamic patrols, inspections and assessments, maintenance, and emergency repairs, implement standardized management and operations, and ensure the integrity and normal operation of road lighting facilities; urban lighting management agencies shall establish a performance evaluation mechanism, regularly analyze the quality of urban lighting services, and promptly resolve service quality issues; urban lighting management agencies shall establish a reporting and complaint mechanism, coordinate with the 12345 citizen service hotline, and voluntarily accept supervision from all sectors of society.

For the complete document, click: "Shandong Province Urban Refined Management Standards — Urban Lighting Management"