It was in the 19th century that cities became visible at night. At that time, gas lamps were lit by hand to illuminate the streets and improve safety. These independently operated systems were the first step in defining the place of light in urban life. However, control, maintenance and efficiency depended entirely on manpower.
The Rise of Electric Lighting
At the beginning of the 20th century, electric lamps appeared on the scene. This was an important leap towards more organized and efficient lighting of cities. Basic automation elements such as photocells and timers were introduced, but centralized control or instantaneous intervention was still not possible.
First Automations with Digitalization
Since the 1990s, the effects of digitalization began to be seen in city lighting. Thanks to central control panels and programmable timers, lamps could be remotely managed in groups. These were the years when the first productive steps were taken in energy management and fault tracking.
The Birth of Smart Lighting Systems
Since the 2010s, with the development of IoT (Internet of Things) technologies, lighting poles have become “smart”. Thanks to wireless communication protocols such as LoRaWAN, each pole can be individually monitored, dimmed and send data. This transformation has been an important step not only in terms of energy savings, but also in terms of urban safety and sustainability.
Multipurpose City Poles
Today, lighting systems not only emit light, but also measure air quality, monitor traffic flow and transmit information in emergencies. Smart poles, which play an important role in the digitalization of city infrastructure, will be the cornerstone of cities in the future with more sensors, more integration and higher data capacity.
