Daejeon City to Implement Light Environment Management Plan Starting Next Year

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City will establish a light environment management plan and implement it starting next year. The purpose of the management plan is to protect citizens' health and the natural environment from light pollution caused by excessive artificial light emission.

The city announced on the 2nd that from June 1 next year, it will apply light emission permissible standards to lighting facilities subject to management within the lighting environment management zones and promote phased facility improvements.

The core goal is to reduce the current light pollution occurrence rate from 46.3% to below 30% through phased light pollution prevention measures and environmentally friendly lighting management.

The lighting subject to the light emission permissible standards includes streetlights, security lights, park lights, outdoor sports area lighting, advertising lights on permitted outdoor advertisements, and decorative lighting installed on buildings of five floors or more or with a total floor area of 2,000㎡ or more, bridges, lodging facilities, entertainment facilities, cultural assets, and artworks.

Among these, lighting installed before the enforcement date of the lighting environment management zones will be granted a grace period until the end of May 2025 to voluntarily improve facilities, considering the burden on managers due to facility improvements and the lifespan of lighting fixtures.

The management plan is a follow-up measure to the designation of the entire Daejeon area into lighting environment management zones classified into types 1 to 4 last June. The city plans to establish a foundation for promotion, including securing equipment and personnel for light environment management, and to implement phased light pollution prevention measures and environmentally friendly lighting management.

Meanwhile, light pollution refers to excessive light caused by inappropriate use of artificial lighting or light leaking outside the intended lighting area, which causes glare, disrupts biological rhythms, leads to sleep disorders, interferes with daily life, and adversely affects the ecological environment.

To address these issues, the city plans to conduct periodic environmental impact assessments of light pollution and continuously analyze and evaluate the effects of light pollution on citizens' health and ecosystems to manage it harmoniously with nighttime landscapes.

Shin Yong-hyun, Director of the Climate and Environment Policy Division of the city, said, “The city will ensure a pleasant nighttime living environment through phased lighting facility improvements and systematic light environment management according to the management plan.”