This research paper is discussing light, and brightness in particular, in terms of perception, taking Odenplan as a case study.Some links between light characteristics and behaviour patterns, such as lingering, have been made, raising the discussion about the qualities of the artificial lighting that would add to convivial urban spaces at nighttime, attempting at differentiating between how people think they would behave and how they actually behave in a public square, and the impact of artificial lighting on public tendencies, suggesting if people feel comfortable and safe in the space, then they tend to perceive the space brighter. The research has shown that it is hard to draw conclusions when it comes to perceived qualities of light. Different research methods have been used with the intention of suggesting a methodology to be explored by others, including literature review, empirical study, informal interviews and word association survey.

Recently, there has been a notable rise in the use of colored lighting for both indoor andoutdoor spaces. This trend necessitates a clear understanding of the principles behindselecting lighting levels that are both ergonomic and energy efficient. The objective ofthis study was to establish guidelines for planning colored light. An experiment wasconducted where the perceived brightness of three different near-monochromatic lightswere compared to white light. The stimuli covered a narrow visual field. 33 personsaged 18-40Y participated. Through the measurement of the participants' perception ofthe amount of colored light required -to achieve the same level of brightness as withwhite light- the study was able to determine a percentage-based relationship betweencolored and white light. The result showed that there were clear differences in theperceived brightness of the different colored lights, in line with earlier research withsimilar conditions. This implicates that the results may be used as a foundation whenplanning colored light.