Perceptions of safety in cities after dark

Yang, Hoa; Berry, Jess; Kalms, Nicole

doi:10.4324/9781003182610-5

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…This is where lighting design could start to make a change. This finding corresponds with other recent studies [10]. It contradicts most of the research on perceived safety, concluding that uniformed urban areas with white-coloured lighting appear to be the safest [44], [45].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…A review of the first 50 articles through a search on Google Scholar with the search words: "lighting + marginalised groups + urban public places" found that only two hits were related to the subject [16]. One article, [10], mentions in their conclusion how marginalised groups should be included in future studies. The other hit was the book where this article was published [25].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Women and minorities, such as racialised, older, and people with disabilities, also commonly defined as vulnerable groups, often share the experience of exclusion from urban public places. This exclusion often leads to a heightened fear of crime, and consequently, their freedom of movement and mobility in the public realm is restricted [6], [10]. This is defined as gendered fear and is a complex phenomenon discussed within the field of human geography since the 1980s; however, without conclusion [11], [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Socially inclusive Lighting Design: exploring a method to enhance freedom of movement for marginalised groups.

Lund,

Hvass

2024

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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Based on literature and field research, women and marginalised groups often experience unwanted attention in the public realm worldwide. This attention often produces a gendered fear, which can result in avoidance behaviour of urban public places. Universal design has been implemented to ensure everyone can access urban areas, but this access is still restricted for many vulnerable groups. This investigation aims to find relevant lighting design principles for making public urban spaces more inclusive for all marginalised groups. A literature review, case studies of three urban places, focus group interviews, and an experiment with torches in the field were the chosen methods to gain knowledge. The findings suggest that the participants experience fear in public places when they feel exposed as someone who can become a potential target. This results in a need to see their surroundings and have an awareness of the presence of others. In addition, the experiment showed how they wanted to use warm lighting and beautify the place by enhancing details. The conclusion suggests six different lighting design methods to create inclusive public areas, such as beautifying details and legibility with vertically lit surfaces. These six principles could make urban public places more socially inclusive for marginalised groups, women, and other vulnerable groups. The results should be compared and confirmed by using control groups with other non-marginalised groups.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Socially inclusive Lighting Design: exploring a method to enhance freedom of movement for marginalised groups.

Lund,

Hvass

2024

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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“…Studies from Melbourne University [8] concerning the relationship between urban lighting and perceived safety also show that brighter lighting is not always related to a higher degree of perceived safety. Likewise, their results reveal that when contrast-ratio is unbalanced, pedestrians tend to feel unsafe.…”

Section: Discussion and Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But contrasts can make the space appear unsafe because the surroundings become invisible when the contrast is too high. Brighter is not always better, as Yang et al claim when studying how women experience perceived safety in urban lit contexts [8]. Lighting and darkness need to be balanced between lit zones [10]; when a general balanced layer of light is established, other layers of lighting can be added in a lighting hierarchy.…”

Section: Contrast In Lighting Levels Between Urban Lit Zonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Darker Cities due to the Energy Crisis and the need for context-specific urban lighting

Hvass

2024

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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Outdoor lighting has been dimmed or turned off in European municipalities due to the energy crisis. Dimming of outdoor lighting levels led to energy savings, advantages for biodiversity and less light pollution. But the dimming also triggers the basic human assumption that bright light is connected to safety and darkness is connected to fear. To discuss this basic assumption, human experience of dimmed lighting and perceived safety is explored through three case studies. One study explores human experiences of dimmed street lighting during energy crises, the second study investigates dimmed lighting levels around public transportation, and the third study is an example of a context-specific adaptation of street lighting in a residential area. The case studies reveal that dimmed lighting levels, minimized contrasts, and context-specific lighting can lead to an increased connectedness to the spatial and social urban context and an increased feeling of perceived safety. Thus, more light doesn’t always lead to more perceived safety. With a dimmed general lighting level, it is possible to introduce additional subtle lighting layers, structured in a lighting hierarchy to further enhance spatial and social qualities in outdoor contexts in the dark hours. in constructing both.

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The Shining Path of the Violence

Chavez

2024

SSRN Journal

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Perceptions of safety in cities after dark

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Socially inclusive Lighting Design: exploring a method to enhance freedom of movement for marginalised groups.

Socially inclusive Lighting Design: exploring a method to enhance freedom of movement for marginalised groups.

Darker Cities due to the Energy Crisis and the need for context-specific urban lighting

The Shining Path of the Violence

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