How to light up the night? The impact of city park lighting on visitors’ sense of safety and preferences

This article presents the results of research that seeks to further our understanding of how lighting methods used in city parks impact sense of safety and preferences. We studied how the impact varies according to: (1) the lighting of paths as well as horizontal and vertical space; (2) foreground and background lighting. At the same time, we checked how the impact of these lighting features on sense of safety and preferences may be explained by mystery, legibility and a sense of privacy. We employed a within-subjects design in which 143 participants evaluated a set of 120 eye-level photographs of park landscapes in terms of mystery, legibility, perceived privacy and safety, and preference. We measured the degree of illumination in the photos as a percentage coverage of illuminated landscape forms. We tested the hypotheses by analysing a number of mediation models. The results revealed that the impact of lighting on perceived safety was explained by legibility. Safety (and legibility) increased along with increased lighting of landscape forms, but only in the background. Increased lighting of paths did not affect safety. An increase in path lighting lowered preferences because it deprived the landscape of mystery and privacy. Increasing the lighting around paths raised the assessment of mystery and, therefore, preference, but this only involved the lighting of vertical elements. Background lighting made the landscape more attractive because it became more legible and mysterious, and provided a greater safety and privacy. Foreground lighting had the opposite effect (it lowered the ratings).