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Hong Kong is selected as the world’s worst city for light pollution. In Monk Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway bay, these commercial and residential areas are found as the most severe region. Because of the spotlights and LED billboards, Hong Kong’s sky is many times lighter than other cities’. ‘A Symphony of Lights’, the show which has long been criticized for making light pollution in Hong Kong more serious.

The situation of light pollution
The problem of light pollution in Hong Kong is alarming. According to a survey conducted by the Department of Physics at the University of Hong Kong, the level of light pollution in Tsim Sha Tsui is 1200 times brighter than a normal dark sky which is the worst reading in the world. Apart from that, a survey by four students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts discovered that the light of the neon signs from buildings in Causeway Bay was 176 lux bright and Mong Kok was about 150 to 500 lux which was far higher than British agencies recommend. Even at the Wetland Park in Tin Shui Wai, the brightness was 130 times higher than the International Astronomical Union standard. The rise of complaints also reveals the seriousness of the problem. The number of complaints has increased from 87 in 2007 to 377 in 2009. In brief, the problem of light pollution is not only appeared in commercial areas like Mong Kok and Causeway Bay, but also in the residential areas in new towns. Cheng Sze-ling, environment affairs officer of Friends of the Earth said “Light pollution is no longer endemic but has evolved into an infectious disease across the city.”

The effect on the neighborhood
In some areas of heavily mixed residential developments like Mongkok and Shum Shui Po,some residents have trouble sleeping as they have to bear the strong neon light emitted by the precincts that lit up like football stadiums through their bedroom windows.

The effect on human beings
Excessive amount of light can disrupt the biological clock of human and affect their brain and hormone function.

The effect on biological environment
In the remote Sai Kung countryside, the brightness emitted from the giant LED billboards will affect the breeding of firefly, a kind of insects relying on light signals to mate, as they will emit the signal less frequently, according to the Hong Kong Entomological Society chairman Yiu Vor. Furthermore, it will affect their continuing survival..

Voluntary guidelines on external lighting
As Hong Kong’s commercial and residential areas are strictly separated, it is difficult to combat light pollution as no simple regulation rule can be applied to these merged zones. The government currently imposes no laws to regulate excessive lighting. Instead, a Task Force on External Lighting set up by the Environment Bureau has issued the Guidelines on Industry Best Practices for External Lighting Installations. However, it is carried out on a self-voluntary basis by the industry and is thus criticized as toothless. The lawmakers are still investigating the need to set up specific laws in regulating external lighting. Yet, opinions are divided. While redsidents generally welcome the idea, the tourism and advertisement industry both rely on lighting to boost business. Some also suggest that the beautiful night view in Hong Kong a unique feature and should not be lost through legislation.