Illuminate: Relationship Between Light Pollution, Quality of Life, and Innovation in Selected US Cities

Abstract

Cities have always been epicenters of economic and social activity. People continue to seek residence in cities to improve their quality of lives (Mouratidis, 2021). In addition to better quality of life, cities can enable better personal and social economic outcomes (Austin et al., 2022). Further, cities have a higher innovation output. They are also characterized by high levels of nighttime illumination. This paper presents meta-analyses to examine the relationships between these attributes of cities. Relevant data were collected from public sources for 48 US cities for three years. Relationships between quality of life, innovation and light radiance were assessed using ANOVA and multiple range (Fisher’s mean) tests.  It was found that levels of light radiance in cities seems have statistically significant relationship with specific elements of quality of life: safety, health, traffic and pollution. The analyses show that high levels of light radiance correlate with adverse aspects of these elements. This study didn’t find a statistically significant relationship between levels of light and innovation. In other words, more brightly lit cities don’t seem to be more innovative.