Night lighting must be taken into account when designing urban public spaces. In urban studies, the urban environment is the support of social processes, and social processes form the requirements for lighting and spatial parameters of the scene. The behaviour of people, their cognitive state and the intensity of communication are the important factors to consider for light design. The key signs of a cognitive state of a person are the number of people around and personal activity mobility. The most characteristic micro-spaces can be selected for various types of environmental behaviour. The paper proposes to use the concept of environmental complexes of micro-, meso-, and macro-spaces for the artificial lighting of a flexible, diverse, but at the same time integral urban environment. Micro-space is perceived as a sphere of personal communication, the so-called “bubble” of social space, and at the same time, micro-space has physical characteristics, including lighting. The basic principles of the light design of the micro-space include such spatial parameters as the size of the “light spot”, the height of the “light ceiling”. Artificial lighting of public spaces reveals the social scenario of using a common space, emphasizes places of communication, meetings, paths of movement, allows you to create a cosy, humane environment. 1. Pachenkov, O. Public space of the city in the face of modern challenges: mobility and “abuse of publicity” (in Russian), 2012.
2. Shchepetkov, N.I., Matovnikov, G.S. Illumination of new pedestrian streets of Moscow // Light and Engineering, 2015, Vol. 23, #2, pp. 15–23.
3. Krasheninnikov, A.V. Cognitive models of the urban environment. Urban planning, urban planning, development. 2020, Moscow: KURS, 210 p.
4. Schumacher, P. Parametricizm: A New Global Style for Architecture and Urban Design // Architectural Design (AD). 2009, pp. 14–24.
5. Krasheninnikov, A.V. Micro-Spaces of Built Environment // Architecture and Modern Information Technologies, 2014, #4 (29, pp. 32–48 [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.marhi.ru/eng/ AMIT/2014/4kvart14/krash/abstract.php, 2014.4 (29): p. 10.
6. Shchepetkov, N.I. Results and Prospects of Light Design Development in Cities of Russia // Light & Engineering, 2017, Vol. 25, #1, pp. 14–22.
7. Butyrevskaya I.N. Principles of the formation of an artificial light environment in an architectural space / Abstract of dis. cand. architecture. Nizhny Novgorod, 2013.
8. Bystryantseva N.V. An integrated approach to creating a light environment for an evening city/ Abstract of cand. architecture dis. Moscow, 2015, 26 p. 9. Matovnikov G.S. Principles of formation of the light environment of pedestrian streets of the city (on the example of Moscow) / Abstract of dic. cand. architecture. Moscow, 2017, 30 p.
10. Shchepetkov N.I. Light design of the city, Moscow: “Architecture-S”, study guide, 320 pages, 2006, ISBN: 5–9647–0103–5.

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• night lighting
• urban environment
• micro-spaces
• light spot
• light ceiling
• urban planning