Solarpunk

What about some tree- or bush-like structures that have lots of small lights, one under each leaf? Having many lights that could all be positioned and angled differently would let you direct the light to only where it's needed and create a smooth shaddow-free glow. And be pretty too! Like the Cave of Two Lovers @Gorgritch_[email protected] posted. Individual lights could have different color and brightness too.

Depending on the kind of bio-engineering or fantastical biology in your world these could be completely organic, completely manufactured, or some combination like lights attached to trees/vines grown for the purpose.

I just want to say, as a light pollution researcher, it warms my heart to see people start to get it.

You're on the right track and got plenty of good suggestions already. I'll add that the way to improve the feeling of safety is to light the faces of people, so you need lights at least taller than humans if you want them pointing downwards. Uniformity of lighting is also a big part, so multiple small lamps tend to be better than one big one.

In short, keep it dim, amber/red, uniform, localized, downward pointing (with dark roads if possible) and turn it off when not needed (most town in France shit off the lights in the evening and no one complained).

Also, keeping the streets narrow, winding and having buildings close (aka European streets) will confine the light in the city better than the opposite.

Feel free to ask me anything and good luck!

Due to the energy crisis in Europe at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as a cost saving measure some cities here in Belgium decided to turn off the street lights at a certain time. I think they went dark at 23:00 or 22:00, so your Cinderella Lighting scenario.

I thought it felt quite peaceful to have some true darkness, and wouldn't mind it back, but at the same time if you had to walk outside at that time, it could feel a bit unsettling even if I live in a very safe neighborhood. I also found that there were some practical issues like, not being able to see obstacles or the state of the pavement, so you had to tread carefully. I'd definitely buy a decent flashlight if they implement that again.

Later, I suppose after complaints from citizens, they reverted to turning only every other streetlight off. I didn't like that at all, it was the worst of both worlds. There were still patches where you couldn't see properly, but none of the peaceful feeling of true darkness. Since a year or so it's back to all streetlights all night.

I'm not sure how fantastical your world is but maybe nightglasses rather than sunglasses. simulates natural night vision, could have some interesting side effects if used a lot.

No shame in taking inspiration from the greatest, most excitingist, and amazingist show on earth.

I reckon Cabbages would be a great business idea in a Solarpunk kinda world... just sayin.

You could simply look up bioluminescent organisms and think of a novel way to us this to light areas, or use non-LED red lights which do not affect most fauna and flora at night.

Dark Sky is a group working to protect the visibility of the night sky. https://darksky.org/what-we-do/advancing-responsible-outdoor-lighting/

They've got suggestions on both limiting use of lighting and using lights that don't point upward, automatically dim, and don't generate a lot of glare

Genetic engineering that let's people see in the dark.

If you're building a world it's #1. If you're telling a story then it's #2 with presence activation. If you're Asimov then all of these are wrong.

Change the colour. Red light is less bright and better light pollution wise for wildlife, but still gives the same illusion of safety. Also doesn’t stimulate the circadian rythm. Also 95% of light pollution is eliminated when streetlamps are specifically down facing.

this pic should help visualise https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/s/abmxpwZ1jE

So, I feel like 2, maybe with 3 in certain high-traffic areas, would be a good idea, for a couple reasons:

1. increased visibility for vehicles, particularly in places with a lot of pedestrians, who might not all have their own lights or be too inebriated to use them.
2. nighttime socializing outdoors, such as markets, streets with lots of nightlife, plazas, etc. Sure, small personal lights could become incorporated into fashion, but those also need to be powered, and would have to illuminate faces without blinding anyone. Public lighting just seems easier.
3. less isolating for night shift workers (if that's a thing in the world you're writing).

Could even have 2 shut off in quieter neighborhoods that have no open businesses during the wee hours.

Also think about how this affects people's circadian rhythms. Look into preindustrial biphasic sleep patterns.

What about some combination of 2 and 3 with "smart" control, like motion activated or buttons that light up a street for the next 500m or so and turn off after some time