Nowadays, we are used to seeing our cities lit up throughout the day. We are accustomed to having access to the spaces of the cities in which we live at potentially all hours of the day, and this also often gives us a greater sense of security.
However, this could only happen with the advent of public lighting and illuminating gas availability.
The first city to have public lighting was Paris in 1825, leading to its nickname, La Ville Lumiere. London, Berlin, and Vienna then followed.
Public city lighting was an innovation that profoundly changed the way of living in cities, making them safer and more accessible.
The lighting of the city of Amsterdam has always been a crucial issue for the life of its citizens. Before the advent of gas lighting, the city had already equipped itself to overcome the many problems of a dark city.
In addition to high levels of crime, there were many cases of people falling into canals and drowning. To ensure public safety, the streets needed to be lit. This was a particularly difficult challenge at the time, since electricity did not yet exist.
In the 14 century the problem was solved with a law that required everyone abroad after 9pm to carry a lamp.
The first innovation for public lighting in Amsterdam, and all Europe, came from the artist Jan van der Heyden in 1669. He had perfected a municipal lighting plan burning oil rather than candles. By 1670 Amsterdam boasted 1,800 streetlamps, and by 1681 2,400 lamps. This new lighting system was so popular that cities across Holland, Europe, and eventually Japan, began to implement the same.
The Light of Lamp-Lanterns: Street Lighting in 17th-Century Amsterdam, Lettie S. Multhauf, Technology and Culture, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Apr., 1985), pp. 236-252 (18 pages).