The role of urban lighting has always been to provide good visibility for streets when it is dark, with the aim of improving safety and livability in public spaces, and in some way also facilitating meetings between individuals. Modern requirements focus on several points:

• citizen safety;

• lighting sustainability;

• creation of a pleasant atmosphere even at night;

• better usability.

Clearly, the technical perspective, unlike in the past, is no longer the most relevant aspect to the exclusion of all others. Those involved in urban lighting must strike a balance between the population’s well-being and sustainability.

The city of the future has a fundamental feature: it responds to the needs of modern citizens, who are now focused on reducing consumption and on the need for gathering, sharing and getting together, which can be carefully cultivated by a city with well-organised spaces, accompanied by intelligent lighting.

Adaptive and intelligent LED street lighting is an essential service for the cities of the future: a service that relies on motion and twilight sensors capable of adapting to the passing of vehicles on the road and environmental conditions.

This brings two main advantages:

• constant visual comfort, as the lighting adapts to the natural environment;

• low energy consumption, saving 50–60%. This enables these lighting systems to comply with the Minimum Environmental Criteria (MEC), as they offer improved energy efficiency performance as well as system durability and reliability.

Like many other sectors, urban lighting is undergoing a necessary process of modernisation and digitalisation. Today, the lamppost is no longer just a tool that illuminates a portion of the street; it is becoming a tool that promotes the safety and comfort of citizens, even capable of communicating with the latter.

Streetlights are now entering the world of IoT, connecting to the Internet and providing a more complete service tailored to people and the environment.

This is the first evidence of a new design of urban lighting and also of the city in relation to individuals: it is people themselves who influence the management of hours of light and darkness. Based on their needs and the information provided by, and exchanged with, the smart streetlamps, the light emitted can be controlled, optimal environmental conditions created, and power wastage reduced together with electricity costs.

We conclude by highlighting an interesting evolution with smart systems for urban lighting: these systems may also be useful for the provision of other services, such as video surveillance, parking, information gathering weather, traffic control, hot spots for Wi-Fi connections and even electric vehicle charging points.

Investment in this type of technology will therefore lead to new ways of experiencing the city that are more connected, safe and also environmentally sustainable.