It often starts suddenly. One street is dark, a few hours later the next one. In Villeurbanne, a city near Lyon, a series of copper thefts is causing growing unease. Entire residential neighborhoods lose street lighting at night — with consequences that go far beyond a technical failure.
“When on foot, you have to be careful,” say many residents by now. The phrase sounds banal but hits the mark. Because the lack of light immediately changes everyday life. Parents prefer to pick up their children by car, elderly people avoid nighttime routes, cyclists approach intersections more cautiously. Where once streetlights indicated orientation, dark gaps suddenly open up. And the darkness affects a city.
According to the municipality, about ten kilometers of copper cables have already been stolen. Approximately fifty streets have been temporarily affected. The perpetrators apparently act in a targeted way: they open manholes, cut underground lines, and disappear with the precious metal. Copper has had high prices on the world market for years — and this is precisely what is increasingly turning public infrastructure into targets of organized thefts.
Particularly delicate: the modus operandi appears professional and at the same time risky. Some interventions take place in the middle of the night, sometimes even on cables that are still live. The lighting service technicians speak of damage that is not easy to repair. New cables are often unavailable in the short term, spare parts arrive late. For this reason, some streets remain in the dark for days.
The municipal administration is trying to react. Road inspections should identify new damage more quickly, citizens report lamp outages directly to the authorities. In early May, the police arrested a 46-year-old man in flagrante delicto. But no one raises the alarm once returned: the cases happen too often.
The Villeurbanne case highlights a problem that has long affected many French cities. Today copper theft no longer targets only construction sites or industrial plants. Increasingly, electrical networks, railway infrastructures, or public lighting are targeted. The material value seems almost secondary — indirect costs explode. Above all, the feeling grows that even basic infrastructures have suddenly become vulnerable.
In Villeurbanne, this development meets particularly sensitive ground. The city has recently been on the front pages due to problems related to drugs, violence, and a sense of growing insecurity. If now entire sections of streets remain in the dark, this reinforces in many residents a vague feeling of loss of control. A bit like: first the cables disappear, then the feeling of security.
Because light in modern cities serves much more than a practical function. Illuminated streets convey presence, order, and orientation. Where brightness is lacking, people’s behavior almost automatically changes. Squares empty out earlier, routes appear more threatening, and the city withdraws into itself at night.
And it is precisely here that the true severity of these thefts lies. A streetlight seems like something everyday — until it suddenly disappears.