# North Italy amazing populated



## Metro007 (Apr 18, 2011)

Well, it is only about light-pollution but should be comparable with the population...just amazing! Milano is just huge!


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## Isek (Feb 13, 2005)

It is all about light pollution. Density in Northern Italy is just average for Western Europe and Milan metro is large but among several other cities in Europe. So nothing super special so far except the massive street lights in Italy - as well as in France, Belgium or Spain. What is more surprising is the darkness of Germany despite beeing Europes major country both population and economical-wise


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## mckeenan (Apr 17, 2013)

Isek said:


> What is more surprising is the darkness of Germany despite beeing Europes major country both population and economical-wise


Not surprising at all. Thrifty and sustainability-oriented mentality.


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## AmoreUrbs (Mar 6, 2013)

And especially Northern Italian cities can be quite sprawled, thanks to our incompetent urban planning which consents to build detached houses in a chaotic way ; German cities have the downtown, the planned suburbs, and out of those you get a largely untouched countryside, the same can not be said about Italy (in the same way at least)


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## Eric Offereins (Jan 1, 2004)

That part is the economical powerhouse of Italy.


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## alexandru.mircea (May 18, 2011)

Isek said:


> So nothing super special so far except the massive street lights in Italy - as well as in France, Belgium or Spain.


Not sure how you arrived at those examples. With the exception of the Paris area, France is bellow the Western European average of night light, bellow Germany for example, and nowhere near the low countries, northern Italy or England. And Spain is even darker, possibly the darkest of the Western European countries.


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## Isek (Feb 13, 2005)

^^

Despite having 1/2 the density of Germany France is heavily lighted. But i am not sure why lighting pattern and intensity varies so much between different night images. The one you gave would assume a massive lighted Poland for example.


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## alexandru.mircea (May 18, 2011)

^ The difference in my gif comes from the fact that one pic shows recent lighting (from 2010) and the other one shows it for 1992.

As for the France/Germany comparison, I don't have figures so judging by eye on that image for 2010 the German lighting looks to me at least twice as strong as the French one. Since then light consumption has decreased even more in France, due to a ruling in effect since July 1, which bans any sorts of unnecessary, decorative lighting after 1AM. However more importantly it has to be said that as France's energy comes mostly from nuclear plants, it's contribution to carbon emissions is much smaller (almost half to that of Germany), which gives them quite a bit of leverage would they need it. 
And there was Spain too.


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## mckeenan (Apr 17, 2013)

About Germany, i just asked a friend living in Germany (Heidelberg and Jena) for many years, and she says that night lightning is kind of inssuficient in Germany. Some urban areas are really misilluminated. It is not coincidental that Germany is one of the few countries (maybe the only one) that allows defensive pepper sprays even to those under 18 years old (check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_spray). Not that Germany is a dangerous country, but its clear that low luminance favours attacks/robbery, no matter if it is Germany, France, Spain or Brazil.


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## xanterra (Nov 28, 2007)

^^* that night lightning is kind of inssuficient in Germany. Some urban areas are really misilluminated. It is not coincidental that Germany is one of the few countries (maybe the only one) that allows defensive pepper sprays even to those under 18 years old
*


That is the reason...












Everytime when I get Visitors from other Countries they ask me the same question: Why are the Streets sooo dark? Why do they use those Yellow-wannabe lights? Many Autobahns and Bundesstrassen do not have any Streetlights. Many people can't stand it when they are to close to their homes and let them get covered


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## mckeenan (Apr 17, 2013)

xanterra said:


> . Many people can't stand it when they are to close to their homes and let them get covered


Shutters, that great invention:











:cheers:


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## xanterra (Nov 28, 2007)

It is strange but shutters are found generally on ground floors here-upper floors with shutters are an exception...


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## Metro007 (Apr 18, 2011)

It has nothing to do with that but simply for ecological (electricity) reasons, since Germany is a little bit more advanced in that thematic. So it's a good thing i guess.


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## Isek (Feb 13, 2005)

mckeenan said:


> About Germany, i just asked a friend living in Germany (Heidelberg and Jena) for many years, and she says that night lightning is kind of inssuficient in Germany. Some urban areas are really misilluminated. It is not coincidental that Germany is one of the few countries (maybe the only one) that allows defensive pepper sprays even to those under 18 years old (check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_spray). Not that Germany is a dangerous country, but its clear that low luminance favours attacks/robbery, no matter if it is Germany, France, Spain or Brazil.


:nuts: Actually it is vice versa. Despite being the darkest of all state of the art countries Germany provides an unmatched level of security.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

xanterra said:


> ^^* that night lightning is kind of inssuficient in Germany. Some urban areas are really misilluminated. It is not coincidental that Germany is one of the few countries (maybe the only one) that allows defensive pepper sprays even to those under 18 years old
> *
> 
> 
> ...



That doesn't look like a dark street to my eyes.


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## Isek (Feb 13, 2005)

xanterra said:


> That is the reason...


Even the upper picture shows a well light up residential street compared to any district in Munich. I guess related to its size and economic power Munich is the darkest city on the planet.


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

Do you have something to illustrate this? I know that it's hard to show how dark a place is on a picture or video, but I'm intrigued. It's quite some time ago that I was in a large German city when it was dark, so I can't really remember what it was like.


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## GENIUS LOCI (Nov 18, 2004)

Isek said:


> It is all about light pollution. Density in Northern Italy is just average for Western Europe and Milan metro is large but among several other cities in Europe.


Milan metro is between 6.000.000 and 8.000.000 inhabitants, depending on how you define it.
Surely one of the biggest in Europe

Lombardy region got more than 10 milions inhabitants; and despite its huge territory the population is almost all in the plans, while about half of the region is montanious


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## Metro007 (Apr 18, 2011)

GENIUS LOCI said:


> Milan metro is between 6.000.000 and 8.000.000 inhabitants, depending on how you define it. Surely one of the biggest in Europe Lombardy region got more than 10 milions inhabitants; and despite its huge territory the population is almost all in the plans, while about half of the region is montanious


Yes. I also think it's one of the biggest, if you consider not just the city but the whole area...


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