Analyst Insight: Smart Streetlighting

As the immediate economic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic begin to wane, a complete picture of both the damage and the economic response is coming into view. Many nations are preparing to make a considerable amount of stimulus available, and much of it has a focus on transportation, connectivity, and environmental quality. This situation presents an opportunity for vendors of smart city technologies as well as cities looking to build on smart city principles. This increase in funding comes at a time when developments in technology, funding models, and regulatory measures have made smart city technologies more accessible. Smart streetlights are a good example of a technology that has benefited from recent economic and regulatory developments. These lights have seen an increasing rate of deployment thanks in part to better return on investment as well as greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures. At the same time, the poles of smart streetlights are valuable sites for sensors that meet other smart city goals. Cities around the globe are using smart streetlights as a platform to deploy public security, connectivity, and transportation systems.

This Guidehouse Insights report focuses on historical and anticipated trends in the smart streetlight market. Drawing on data from Guidehouse Insights’ Smart Cities Tracker, this report considers 798 tracked smart city projects from 2012 to 2021. Regional trends in smart streetlight deployments are considered as well as the current funding and policy landscapes of smart city developments generally. Discussion on this data includes regional market drivers, barriers, and emerging opportunities.