The city of Glasgow is to trial a street lighting system that records noise and movement so disturbances can be fed back to the emergency services. Columns will be fitted with sensors and the lights will be programmed to increase in brightness and even to flash to guide the police to incidents in the city.
The street lighting trial, which will also employ LED lamps, forms part of the council's £24 Future City/Glasgow project which aims to show how technology can improve urban life. It is believed to be the first of its kind in Scotland.
Under the scheme, the council suggested the lights could be increased in brightness for outdoor events such as festivals. It also suggested that they could be used to collect data about pollution and footfall, as well as provide a controllable solution for any of Glasgow's unlit cycle paths. The council proposes that brightness on these pathways could increase from 40 per cent brightness to 100 per cent when an approaching cyclist is detected by the street lights.
Campaigners for pedestrian safety in Scotland welcomed the news but feared some of the crime-fighting features of the initiative might be abused.
Keith Irving, head of Living Streets Scotland, told The Scotsman: "This should be a positive experiment. Improved street lighting can help cut taxpayer energy bills and improve safety for pedestrians, making our communities feel safer after dark.
"Sensors providing additional data on footfall, as well as pollution, will help local shops and is essential in supporting our town centres and monitoring the quality of our local environment.
"We would question, though, why these new street lights should automatically get brighter or start flashing in the event of increased noise – that would perhaps only encourage a bit of midnight merriment."
