Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Youtube
Follow us on LinkedIn
Innovative policies for improving citizens’ health and wellbeing addressing indoor and outdoor lighting
Innovative policies for improving citizens’ health and wellbeing addressing indoor and outdoor lighting
Innovative policies for improving citizens’ health and wellbeing addressing indoor and outdoor lighting
Innovative policies for improving citizens’ health and wellbeing addressing indoor and outdoor lighting
Country
Estonia
Coordinates
58°22'31.19" N 26°43'7.79" E
Status
Second largest city
Population
~ 100,000 inhabitants
Elevation
57.2 metres
Area
~ 154 km2
Zone
moraine plain
Climate
temperate humid continental climate

City description

Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia and main hub in South-Estonia. The city is Estonia’s education center with over 15 higher education institutions including the two largest: Tartu University (establishd in 1632) and the University of Life Sciences.

Tartu is considered to be most livable city in Estonia. As a member of The Covenant of Mayors since 2014, the city has been at the forefront of sustainability with some of the most ambitious goals in Estonia.

The Tartu region embodies wisdom – here you will find one of the best universities in Europe as well as many top-level scientific institutions and research laboratories. Intelligent people generate smart ideas and that is the reason why start-ups and smart manufacturing companies are booming here.

Public lighting in Tartu

Tartu´s street lighting network has about 14,500 (in general HPS) luminaires, connected by ca. 400 km of electric cables. 153 electrical cabinets are installed to provide lighting power and to control the operation of the lighting. The City of Tartu has continuously upgraded its street lighting system since 2012 and today around 4,500 (30%) of all street lights have been replaced by energy efficient LED lights. At the end of 2019, the renovation of a large-scale street lighting infrastructure in Annelinn began. The works will last until 2022 and will include the renovation of the entire street lighting infrastructure (lighting, poles, cabling, cabinets) in the area.

Besides the Annelinn district, the street lighting will be renewed in 2021-2022 in different city districts. Several development projects have been launched in 2020.

Today, the city of Tartu does not have a comprehensive street lighting development plan, but in February 2020 the preparation of a Public Lighting Master Plan for the city was initiated. It will be completed in 2022.

Tartu is an ENLIGHTENme city because

In recent years, the city of Tartu has been actively involved in renewing and making street lighting more economical. At the same time, the health aspect has not been taken into account. Rather, we have considered creating a safe environment for residents and saving energy.

Within the ENLIGHTENme project we will study how outdoor and indoor lighting affects people's health and find out the links between health, wellbeing, lighting and socio-economic factors. We hope that thanks to the project we can take a step forward to use the knowledge gained in the future planning and reconstruction of outdoor lighting in the city of Tartu.

Although the involvement of residents in various decision-making processes is rather self-evident in Tartu, the public has not been significantly involved in the development of lighting so far. As part of the project, we are implementing the idea of a local lighting lab as an innovation and we are actively involving residents in the development of outdoor lighting in their residential area.

Interesting lighting facts

  • More than 14,500 public lighting points around Tartu city.
  • By the end of 2021 around 30% LED lights installed.
  • Traditional lighting festival TAVA (Tartu Valgus): the next festival is to take place October 2021.