13 June 2024

“Why daylight should be a priority for urban planning” released as a new issue in the DLA Reprints series!

The DLA is happy to announce the publication of its reprint of “Why daylight should be a priority for urban planning”, a paper produced by the DLA project group “Daylight and green cities”, which was recently published in the Journal of Urban Management.

“This publication is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration amongst chronobiologists, health experts, architects, urban planners and landscape architects, engineers, and urban ecologists – it illustrates how the Daylight Academy brings together diverse expertise to tackle pressing societal issues” says Professor Christoph Küffer, one of the co-leads of the Daylight and green cities project.

The paper proposes that, given its importance for human health and well-being, daylight in urban areas should be treated as a limiting resource that, like water or energy, is carefully planned and managed.

It mentions that a growing number of people in cities lacks sufficient exposure to daylight, which in-turn makes them susceptible to conditions ranging from obesity, myopia and viral infections to mental illness. Urban ecosystems also suffer from disturbed light regimes, according to the paper.

The publication goes on to illustrate how the needs and opportunities for daylight-inspired planning and design vary according to the urban context, considering four contrasting scenarios of urban densification.

Enjoy reading!