The World Lighting Journey is a photo library of nightscapes and lighting environments from cities worldwide. Lighting Detectives hopes this database will be a catalyst for future discussion on urban lightscapes and local lighting culture. Lighting Detectives encourages all web viewers to send nightscape from your hometown to add to our ever-expanding photo library.

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Photo by: SHOMEI TANTEIDAN
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GLOBAL RESEARCH

SEOUL, Korea

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Competing with elaborately planned shop facades, intense Han River bridge illuminations, sign luminaries, and bare light bulbs, all flood the streets with chaotic lights. Multi-colored and thriving on pure energy, the different areas in Seoul are alive at night with their own individual style of light. Looking towards the Han River from the observation deck of KLI 63 Building. Myeongdong Commercial District. Light from sign luminaries flood the streets, a typical scene in many Asian cities. In the Dongdaemun Market, numerous bare light bulbs hang from the ceiling and reflect off the canopies overhead.

MOSCOW, Russia

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The streets of Moscow are mostly buried in shadows except for a few groups of lucent buildings, maybe an expression of authority. During the intense commercial time bawdy lights are lost, along with street activity, and stillness returns to the city. Now, towering lights dot the cold winter landscape. Looking towards Moskva University at dusk. The Bolshoi Theatre rebuilt in 1856. The upper lights set off the detail of this Greek-style Architecture. Christmas illumination at Tsum Department Store next to Bolshoi Theatre.

City Night Survey : Shenzhen, China

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2025.09.12 & 09.18 Lin Hu + Jiang Kunzhi + Lin Huangyi Shenzhen evolved from a fringe town into a high-tech metropolis in about 45 years, and its bold, sustainable urban lighting planning stands out nationally. A two-day field study examined nightscape patterns in its three CBDs, media façades in Futian, and the functional lighting design of the new Gangxia North Metro Station. Unlike older, historically rich Chinese cities, Shenzhen started as a peripheral town and in just about 45 years has become a high-tech modern metropolis. Thanks to its local legislative autonomy, Shenzhen’s urban planning is highly experimental and often serves as a model for other Chinese and even international cities. In urban lighting planning, Shenzhen is a national frontrunner: its nightscape design is bold and innovative, yet the city has also enacted special regulations for ecological protection and light pollution control, showing a clear commitment to sustainability. However, some lighting projects still spark social debate over energy consumption, light pollution, and the use of public resources. To understand more of Shenzhen’s current nightscape, the Shenzhen office team conducted a two-day field study with Mende-san and Kasai-san, focusing on three themes: 1.　Nightscape of the three main CBDsWe visited the observation deck at 540 m on the Ping An Finance Center in Futian to take in the scale and layout of the city at night. Looking east toward Luohu, the skyline shows a mix of old and new high-rises, reflecting Shenzhen’s…

City Night Survey: Shinjuku Kabuki-cho, Tokyo

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2023.07.19　Shunichi Ikeda + Masashi Kurobe + Yuta Shibata Shinjuku Kabukicho, Japan’s largest entertainment district, is a dazzling neon-lit labyrinth filled with restaurants, movie theaters, and amusement facilities. Its streets are teeming with people all night long. In recent years, however, the district has faced challenges, such as the growing presence of “Toyoko Kids” congregating in Cine City Square and engaging in criminal activities. Despite these issues, the opening of the new iconic Tokyu Kabukicho Tower has brought renewed attention to the area. As lighting detectives, we delve into the current state of Kabuki-cho, examining its lighting environment and cultural significance. ■Kabuki-cho Reborn: A Post-COVID Entertainment DistrictSeventeen years after our lighting survey in Shinjuku in 2006, Kabuki-cho has evolved from large-scale development into a global tourist hotspot. Though deserted during the 2020 state of emergency, the area is now vibrant again with the opening of Tokyu Kabuki-cho Tower. This survey revisits Kabuki-cho, comparing it with the previous survey and analyzing its changing lighting environment. ■Tokyu Kabuki-cho Tower: An All-Out Entertainment ComplexThe Tokyu Kabuki-cho Tower, a 48-story, approximately 225-meter-tall, super high-rise entertainment complex comprising a hotel, movie theater, theater, and more, opened in April 2023.Upon entering the building, I was overwhelmed by the countless glittering lights that filled the space. The small shops and narrow corridors were adorned with an excessive number of paper lanterns, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of an Asian festival. Outside, the building’s digital signage, facade indirect lighting, reflected…

Global Lighting Survey: Sydney, Australia

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Sydney Lighting Survey: How Sydney CBD glows at night 2019.09.19 – 2019.09.21　 Momoko Muraoka + Sunyoung Hwang Sydney, a capital city of New South Wales is famous for its beautiful beaches and iconic Opera House. It makes it to the most populous city of Australia with more than 5.2million population. The climate of Sydney is subtropical with no extreme seasonal differences. Highly saturated clear blue sky, lush greeneries, beautiful waterscape, and iconic Opera House – Sydney is the city that has it all. It is quite a lovely place to be and usually makes it to the top rankings for the most liveable cities in the world. This time, Lighting Detectives flew to Sydney to find out how it lights up at night as a famous tourist destination. The survey focuses on the Sydney CBD (Central Business District) area. When looked down from the Sydney Observatory, the city did not have much of the façade lighting. Many of the buildings were glowing with their interior lights. There were not much of RGB lights nor media facade light except few areas of Darling Harbour and Pitt Street, the shopping district. The shot taken from North Sydney to have an overall view of Sydney CBD with iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge shows this more clearly. Sydney seemed rather classic with a warm tone of lighting on these iconic features and minimum architectural lights. Interview with the city of Sydney Interview with…