From Electrification to Over-Illumination: Using VIIRS Nighttime Lights to Interpret Progress and Trade-Offs Across Sustainable Development Goals 3, 7, and 11

Nighttime light (NTL) remote sensing provides a globally consistent observation of human activity after dark and has become increasingly relevant to sustainability monitoring. This study evaluates how Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day/Night Band (VIIRS-DNB) nighttime light observations can complement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with particular emphasis on SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). The empirical component analyzes annual VIIRS nighttime lights from 2015 to 2023 for 467 urban centers with populations of at least one million, delineated using the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL). City-level aggregate radiance (Sum VNL) was calculated using zonal statistics and evaluated through longitudinal rankings, regional comparisons, and detailed contrasts between the highest- and lowest-emitting cities. The results reveal a pronounced global lighting divide. Los Angeles recorded the highest cumulative Sum VNL (approximately 1.92 million), followed by Chicago, Houston, New York, and Dallas, whereas Beni, Amaigbo, Massawa, Mbuji-Mayi, and Bangui recorded values several orders of magnitude lower. The temporal record also captures broad expansion before 2020, pandemic-period stagnation or decline in many cities, and a rebound by 2022–2023. These patterns demonstrate that NTL can identify both development gains and sustainability trade-offs. Low radiance may indicate limited electricity access, weak infrastructure, or conflict-related vulnerability, while high radiance may reflect urban prosperity but also over-illumination, wasted energy, ecological disturbance, and human exposure to artificial light at night. The study therefore argues against treating brightness as a monotonic measure of sustainable development. Instead, NTL should be interpreted as a contextual indicator in which the sustainability objective is adequate, efficient, spectrally appropriate, and well-directed lighting. A practical indicator framework is proposed for integrating NTL with energy-access, urban, ecological, and health datasets in SDG monitoring. Limitations related to static urban boundaries, satellite viewing geometry, atmospheric effects, and the reduced sensitivity of VIIRS-DNB to blue-rich LED emissions are explicitly considered.