02 Editorial Dear readers, Where did we leave off? Instinctively, I should ask how you are at this unusual and historical moment in time. In 2020, we found ourselves facing an unimaginable experience: Covid 19 created a pandemic that caused huge loss of human life and brought the world's economy to its knees. All this has led us to re-think what matters in society. On a global level, it showed us how our health is of fundamental importance and should be protected with a network of collaborations that extend well beyond each individual country. Lockdown, followed by a gradual re-emergence from it, taught us that re-arranging social spaces and movement within urban areas was essential. New ideas for more open, greener cities, better adapted to children and the elderly and the redevelopment of abandoned areas in Italy were already motions found in certain architectural outlooks. Mario Cucinella focused on this topic at the Italian Pavilion during the XVI architectural Biennial with his "Arcipelago Italia" and, during the pandemic, Massimiliano Fuksas advanced a proposal to redesign the concept of living by combining the places where we work, live and spend our free time. I'd also like to remind you of the poet and expert on rural village studies, Franco Arminio who has always spoken out in favour of villages, especially in the hinterland regions of Italy, that are now depopulated. This issue of Lighthinking had been due for publication in April 2020, but in Italy, as was the case across the globe, everything ground to a halt in March and April. The inevitable result was, that all things scheduled fell through, and a number of planned events were postponed. Ironically, Lighthinking 03 is dedicated to the urban context, a stage where most of humanity comes together to socialise, shake hands, greet and embrace one other, have a drink together and travel together; all those things that were banned in order to block the spread of infection. So, we believe that publishing now will bring good luck, that it will be a small contribution to a return to normality with everything running as before. Alongside lighting projects created in different urban contexts that extend from snow-covered Tallinn in Northern Europe to the traffic congested Ningbo in China, from the elegance of Covent Garden in London to a newly expanding area in Zagreb, this issue will take a close look at how lighting can be an element of creativity which, in turn, becomes an attractive and strategic factor for development in the cities themselves. Like a fil rouge viewed from a number of different angles, you will find the topic "Creative Light/Creative Cities" threading through sections of the magazine: how light becomes a qualifying element in an urban space, the additional benefits it brings, how it adds to residents and visitor's well-being and what future scenarios may be. To tell you all about this, we interviewed Thierry Marsick, Director of the urban lighting department for the city of Lyon who described his experience of working on one of the first cities to adopt a lighting plan; we then asked Paolo Granata, professor at the University of Toronto to explain to us how Toronto became part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. iGuzzini has long promoted the idea that a light is not a simple technical-functional application but is beauty, inner and outer well-being, and is harmony and respect for the environment. We did so by reaching out to everyone with our advertising campaigns, from "Illuminare gli Italiani” ( Enlightening the Italians ) to "con iGuzzini contro l’inquinamento luminoso" ( Combating lighting pollution with iGuzzini ), right up to "Better Light For a Better