Rethinking Urban lighting: Geographies of artificial Lighting in everyday life Casper Laing Ebbensgaard PhD thesis, December 2016 Queen Mary University of London and Roskilde University 1 Rethinking urban lighting: geographies of artificial lighting in everyday life A thesis presented by Casper Laing Ebbensgaard December 2016 Supervised by David Pinder, Queen Mary University of London and Roskilde University Jonas Larsen, Roskilde University Secondary supervisor: Tim Brown, Queen Mary University of London The thesis is submitted to Queen Mary University of London and Roskilde Univer- sity, Denmark, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of London) and the Ministerial Order on the PhD Pro- gramme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions (Denmark). School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London Doctoral School of Society, Space and Technology, Roskilde University. © Copyright by Casper Laing Ebbensgaard All Rights Reserved Cover photo by author 2 Statement of originality I, Casper Laing Ebbensgaard, confirm that the research included within this thesis is my own work or that where it has been carried out in collaboration with, or sup- ported by others, that this is duly acknowledged below and my contribution indi- cated. I attest that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge break any UK law, infringe any third party’s copyright or other Intellectual Property Right, or contain any confidential material. I accept that the College has the right to use plagiarism detection software to check the electronic version of the thesis. I confirm that this thesis has not been previously submitted for the award of a degree by this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or infor- mation derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the au- thor. Signature: Date: 3 Dedication This thesis is driven by curiosity and a desire to challenge my own beliefs and under- standings of elements that are taken for granted in our everyday lives. One of these elements is light, and over the past five years, I have been curious to know more about this medium that seems so ephemeral and effervescent, yet powerful and im- mediate. My curiosity has been stimulated throughout my education and studies at var- ious universities, dating back to my time at University of Copenhagen, later Roskilde University, then a short stop at City University of New York, and lastly Queen Mary University of London. Each of these institutions have provided me with social and intellectual backing and at different times in my life they have served as homes. I cannot understate the importance of the many inspirational teachers, colleagues and students that I have encountered, worked with and become close friends with at each of these places. This thesis is the culmination of my journey through each of these places, and is dedicated to the power that education holds, in changing minds of stu- dents, and thus, sparking curiosity in new generations to critically engage with the world that surrounds us. My dearest hope is that this thesis will inspire students to keep on questioning what we take for granted. I therefore dedicate this thesis to all the students that embark on their own quest to become wiser on the mysteries of the world, and help others understand our predicaments. Keep on questioning. 4 Acknowledgements Putting my name on this thesis as a single author does not do justice to the immense support I have had from all the people around me. The thesis would never have been if not for the support of my family, partner, friends, colleagues and of course the peo- ple who entrusted me with their personal stories and spent their dearest time talking to me about mundane stuff and esoteric topics, my research participants. Let me there- fore dedicate a couple of sentences in acknowledgement of the efforts and contribu- tions of these people. I want to start out by thanking my family and partner. Over the past three years, and particularly over the last couple of months, I have been excused by you for being an absent son, brother, partner and friend. I would never have made it if not for your understanding and support. Thanks mum, dad, Simon, Nina, Ysée, the rest of les Berlendis, Hans and Emilie for reminding me about the things that really matter in life, and showing me how to live it. You mean everything to me. Thanks to all my friends, on home ground in Denmark, who know me better than I do myself, and all the latest additions to my life here in London, and around. The conceptual framework and intellectual scaffolding that forms the back- bone of the thesis is a product of a long series of discussions I have had with supervi- sors, colleagues and friends. My supervisors David and Jonas are inspirational figures and role models to me, and through stimulating conversations you have helped me build up an understanding of what research is. You guys have shown me unconditional support, shown belief in my ideas and ability, and encouraged and helped me through good and hard times. You have taken me seriously as a researcher and a human being. Your supervision supersedes academic advice – you have become true friends, friends I hold very dear. I have been fortunate enough that Tim Edensor, Robert Shaw and other aca- demic friends have been willing to discuss my research at conferences and talks, chal- lenging my ideas and approaches. The field of lighting studies would not be without you, and I acknowledge that my work would not have been possible if I couldn’t stand on your shoulders. You have all helped me understand my own work better and sharp- ened my arguments. 5 I have been fortunate enough to present different snippets of the thesis at conferences and workshops, which have greatly helped me in developing arguments and challenging my ideas. Thanks to Rob for inviting me to the ‘Conceptualising spaces of light and dark’ workshop at Durham University, thanks to the participants at the ‘Light Cultures’ conference at RUC, and thanks to Don Slater and the rest of the Con- figuring Light team at LSE, for inviting me to speak at the ‘Cities, Light and Technol- ogy’ conference in Eindhoven. I have also presented my work at the ‘Ambient and atmospheric geographies’-session at the annual AAG conference in Chicago 2015, at the ‘Lighting Conflicts’-session in 2014 and the ‘Illuminating Space (2) – Designing with light’-session in 2013, both at the Annual International Conference of the RGS with IBG. Session organisers and participants have been helpful in critically engaging with my ideas and thus developing and sharpening my arguments. Last, I want to recognise the effort and goodwill shown by my research partic- ipants. You have all taught me what light means and how it can be understood. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you, and hope that the thesis does justice to the efforts you have made to meet my obscure demands about timing and topic of con- versation. A special thanks must go to Leila Nicholas, Rakhi Sudra, and Junia Andrews, for showing interest and putting me in contact with residents. Thanks to Carrol, Ish- mael, and Beverly for showing me around Newham’s corners, and making sure I didn’t get lost on our treks. Then I wish to pay tribute to a range of people that have been instrumental for my project, but in the end have been omitted from the thesis, empirically. Alas, they have helped me shape the conceptual approach and way of thinking about light and the everyday in the thesis. A great thanks to Emmanuel Nashi, Luljeta Nuzi and the team at Shpresa who helped me learn about Newham through the eyes of young Al- banians. Thanks to Rosie Freeman and Eleanor Barrett for showing me a very differ- ently illuminated version of Newham, and dedicating so much of your time to talk to me. Thanks to Satu Streatfield and Benz Roos for showing me the ropes of temporary light installations. And then a huge thanks to Laurent Louyer, Ellettra Bordonaro, Ne- vena Kovacevic for being amazing friends and the greatest of inspirations. You all push the borders for what light can and should do. Our work together was fun, and I hope there will be more to come! You have taught what I know about lighting design, its limits and potentials. 6 Abstract In this thesis I study the role of artificial lighting in the everyday urban life of older residents living in the London Borough of Newham. Newham’s light infrastructure is currently undergoing change as the borough’s entire 19,000 street lamps are being re- placed with Light Emitting Diodes and as a range of regeneration projects provide public spaces designed with new lighting. By increasing visibility and encouraging everyday activity into the evening, the Council claims that the changes in public light- ing will provide ‘eyes on the streets’ and encourage ‘eyes from the windows’ of build- ings, contributing to increasing ‘natural surveillance’. The Council’s avowal of every- day practices in streets and in homes, has made me question how lighting affects the way older residents move through streets and carry out domestic practices as dark- ness falls. The study explores how light planning, lighting design and everyday, rou- tine practices in the public realm and inside homes co-produce the urban, lit environ- ment. Two major contributions of the thesis lie in the (post)phenomenological ap- proach I develop to study everyday experiences of urban lighting, and the methodo- logical framework I employ to research such practices, which combines mobile and visual methods.