During October of 2008, the
city of San Luis Potosí was the venue for the Annual General Meeting of Cities of light. This event is organized
by LUCI (Lighting Urban Community International), an organization which gathers
more than 50 cities worldwide who have the common goals of incorporating light
as a strategy for urban improvement, social and economic development as well as
generating awareness of the importance of developing sustainable projects that
focus on the environment.
This community gathers
specialists and professionals focusing on different fields such as architects,
scenographists and historians who see lighting design as a useful tool inside
an urban context.
The reason for choosing San
Luis Potosí as a venue was made considering the it was recognized as a city of light when, in 2006, it won
third place of the City People Light Award for scenic lighting. This
competition is organized every year with the objective of awarding the best lit
cities on a worldwide scale.
The activities took place
in different buildings of the city's historical center. The inauguration was
held at the La Paz Theater on the 29th of October and the
organization's sessions and conferences took place at the central building of
the state university.
Among the lecturers were Gustavo Avilés, designer of
San Luis Potosí's lighting master plan., Piero Castiglioni, Jocelyn Peissel,
Emily Emerson, Graham Phoenix, David Keith and Leni Schwendinger, all lightings
professionals.
The different activities of
this meeting were marked by the rules that LUCI has developed and made public
in every one of its gatherings. According to Gustavo Avilés, referring to the
city's Lighting master plan which he designed, the benefits of a Project of this
scale are numerous and varied: recovery of the city's inhabitant's sense of
possession, more security on streets and roads, better sense of orientation,
improvement of the city's image, care and maintenance of the city's buildings,
savings of up to 60% in electricity, a new signposting plan, all oriented
towards urban renovation. He also pointed out that having an annual gathering
which reminds s of the complexity and benefits of such projects is a cause for
celebration.
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