Taipei City Government

To address potential health risks posed by light pollution and to enhance the quality of life for residents, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) held public hearings involving representatives from the private sector, as well as experts and central government officials for drafting the “Taipei City Light Pollution Control Ordinance.”
The draft, adopted by the City Executive Meeting on October 6, will be submitted for deliberation by Taipei City Council.
According to DEP, Taipei is a densely-populated metropolis teeming with mixed-use (commercial and residential) buildings. Vibrant business activity has led to an increasing number of luminous signs and lighting, generating glare and affecting the quality of life for locals in a negative way. A total of 568 complaints have been filed against light nuisance between 2004 and 2015.
In light of this, the new regulation entails:
1. Setting standards for luminance and brightness of light sources and prohibiting flickering lighting from disturbing people’s life.
2. Establishing a mechanism to evaluate the effect of roadside lighting (covering an area of 25 square meters or more and located 30 meters within the boundary lines of the road) on traffic safety for freeways and express roads before the lighting construction is implemented.
3. Stipulating a time frame within which improvement should be made and fines shall be increased if the violator fails to make improvement.
4. Enforcing the measure of cutting off power as penalty.
5. Notifying violators to implement improvement measures within a specific period of time after the Ordinance takes effect. Those who fail to do so will be subject to penalty.