I am not into the idea that if you make things look nice, people will feel good -- "physical determinism" a columnist friend of mine calls it -- but many of us would allow that our environments do send out cues we respond to. As a contributor to places, the new urbanist planner Andreas Duany believes light matters a lot. I disagree with him on many questions but admire the way he connects the need for change with commercial advantage. Duany thinks we should take hints from those with a more sophisticated understanding of the effects of light on people than urban planners, illuminating engineers, and highway or public works departments now have. Who would disagree when he says,

Now the most rigorous of the specialists in terms of human behaviour are absolutely hands down the retailers. They can actually adjust how much people buy, how long people stay in restaurants and how popular they are, by the design of the lighting. This is probably more important than the temperature and various other aspects which one would think could perhaps be more important.

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