Feelings of safety for visitors recreating outdoors at night in different artificial lighting conditions

Abstract

Artificial light can impact the actual and perceived safety of visitors recreating outdoors at night. Actual safety refers to how visitors identify aspects of their environment such as pathways and obstacles, while perceptions of safety refer to how safe they feel based on perceptions of the environment. Both influence the acceptability of different light conditions. The objective of this study is to better understand how light conditions influence visitors’ perceptions of safety and their potential for pleasant experiences while recreating at night in a park-like setting. This paper explores study participants’ self-reported feelings of safety across eight different light conditions using two different colors, 3000K Correlated Color Temperature (warm white) and monochromatic amber, and 4 four different intensities (0.5, 1.0, 5.0, or 10.0 lux) during a nighttime recreation-focused experiment in a university’s arboretum. Prior experience with nighttime outdoor recreation and community type (urban, suburban, rural) during adolescence were evaluated alongside light conditions as predictors of feelings of safety using ordered logistic regression. Participants of this study were 31.6% more likely to report higher feelings of safety in warm white light than amber light and 81.7% more likely to report higher feelings of safety at 5.0 lux than 0.5 lux. Further, individuals who felt safer in any lighting condition were 19.6 times more likely to feel greater potential for a pleasant experience while recreating than someone who did not report feeling safe or felt unsafe. Understanding the connection between light and perceived safety in park settings can help managers tailor lighting conditions to the needs of visitors while reducing ecological impacts - brighter and cooler temperature lighting have greater negative impacts on wildlife. Adjusting the distribution and intensity of light can increase the accessibility of nighttime recreation opportunities and the potential for comfortable and pleasant experiences for visitors.