It is almost common belief that well-lit areas reduce crime but is it really so? An article in New Yorker on light pollution mentions couple of points that depart from this perception. “In the early seventies, the public-school system in San Antonio, Texas, began leaving many of its school buildings, parking lots, and other property dark at night and found that the no-lights policy not only reduced energy costs but also dramatically cut vandalism.”

In fact, bright lights that we see light up deserted areas only provide a false illusion and crime in fact would be more effectively controlled if ‘smart lighting’ i.e. controlled by infrared motion sensors.