Illuminating for safety: Investigating the role of lighting appraisals on the perception of safety in the urban environment
Open accessAbstract
In two studies, we took a prospect–refuge based perspective to investigate how lighting and other physical attributes (i.e., prospect, concealment, and entrapment) affect people’s judgments of the safety of urban streets during nighttime. Both studies complement existing research, which predominantly use factorial designs, with more ecologically valid correlational research using a large and representative sample of urban streets as stimulus materials. Results from Study 1 corroborate existing research demonstrating that differences in prospect, concealment, and entrapment predicted, to a large extent, variation in the perceived safety of urban streets—thus demonstrating the utility of such environmental information for making safety judgments in real-life settings. Results from a mediation analysis conducted in Study 2 showed that the relation between appraisals of lighting quality and safety judgments was completely accounted for by co-occurring variation in appraisals of prospect and entrapment. Implications for theory and methodology are discussed.
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Opportunities for escape have the largest effect on perception of safety particularly at night, because lack of escape opportunity may increase feeling of anxiety lowering women's perception of safety.
“Opportunities for escape have the largest effect on perception of safety particularly at night, because lack of escape opportunity may increase feeling of anxiety lowering women's perception of safety.”
From Women's perceived safety in public places and public transport: A narrative review of contributing factors and measurement methods (2025) · cites this paper as van Rijswijk and Haans, 2018
The General Discussion (page unavailable) says that escape-opportunity appraisals had the largest effect on perceived environmental safety at night, and that greater entrapment was associated with lower perceived safety. It does not establish that anxiety explains this association or that the finding specifically concerns women. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredvan Rijswijk and Haans (2018) found that high prospect is positively related to environmental perceived safety and a negative correlation exist between perceived safety and levels concealment and escape at night under different lighting conditions.
“van Rijs wijk and Haans (2018) found that high prospect is positively related to environmental perceived safety and a negative correlation exist between perceived safety and levels concealment and escape at night under different lighting conditions.”
From Women's perceived safety in public places and public transport: A narrative review of contributing factors and measurement methods (2025) · cites this paper as van Rijswijk and Haans, 2018
Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe study also found mediating effects of environmental characteristics on perception of safety indirectly influenced by street lighting.
“The study also found mediating effects of envi ronmental characteristics on perception of safety indirectly influenced by street lighting.”
From Women's perceived safety in public places and public transport: A narrative review of contributing factors and measurement methods (2025) · cites this paper as van Rijswijk and Haans, 2018
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Cites
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“…most species, the satisfaction of basic needs is dependent on a combination of the ability to see (i.e., prospect) and the ability to hide (i.e., refuge), and that environmental preference is shaped according to the extent that environments offer these kind of opportunities (Appleton, 1975, 1984).”
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“To date, several studies have investigated the effect of lighting from a prospect–refuge perspective (e.g., Blöbaum & Hunecke, 2005; Boomsma & Steg, 2014; Loewen et al., 1993; Nasar & Bokharaei, 2017a, 2017b).”
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“The method of using photographs as stimulus material for obtaining assessments of a wide range of environmental characteristics has been validated by previous research (e.g., Stamps, 1990, 1993, 2010).”
MethodRESEARCH NOTE: A Demonstration That the Claim That Brighter Lighting Reduces Crime Is Unfounded
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“…which directly examine the link between lighting color temperature, escape and concealment, we hypothesize that higher white light will be associated with higher level of escape and concealment, considering the correlation between pro-spect, concealment, and escape (Rijswijk and Haans 2018).”
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Proposing a research framework for urban lighting: The alertness, arousal and anxiety triad
Jedon, R., Haans, A., & de Kort, Y. D. (2022) · Lighting Research & Technology · doi:10.1177/14771535221122139 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationEllisa, E., & Luana, L. (2021) · Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering · doi:10.1080/13467581.2021.1941995 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“A study revealed that an environment that makes people feel entrapped and concealed increases the fear of crime (van Rijswijk and Haans 2018).”
BackgroundLiu, C.-W., Liu, L., Wang, X., Han, B., & Chen, L. (2025) · Building and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.114044 · Cited by 8
Role of esthetic judgment on perceived safety of urban parks’ users
Kermani, Z. M., Pazhouhanfar, M., & Mustafa Kamal, M. S. (2022) · Security Journal · doi:10.1057/s41284-021-00326-x · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Schuller, S., Bergefurt, L., de Kort, Y. A. W., & Appel‐Meulenbroek, R. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102642 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Hvass, M., & Hansen, E. (2022) · IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environment · doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1099/1/012017 · Cited by 7
Illuminating Perceptions: A Mixed-Methods Study of Public Views on Urban Park Lighting
Aslanoğlu, R., Kwiecińska, K., Jakóbiak, A., Zienowicz, M., Wiśniewska, A., Bartyna-Zielińska, M., & Tokarczyk-Dorociak, K. (2025) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su17209266 · Cited by 6
Pardela, Ł., Beck, J. L., & Lis, A. (2025) · Landscape Online · doi:10.3097/lo.2025.1133 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
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“First, in most studies on landscape evaluations, the unit of analysis is people, while in our study, the unit of analysis was landscapes (Herzog & Kirk, 2005; Lis et al., 2019; van Rijswijk & Haans, 2018).”
BackgroundMethodPeople’s conceptual environmental appraisals of urban space in daylight and electric light
Johansson, M. V., Tsiakiris, G., & Rahm, J. (2024) · IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science · doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1320/1/012013 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Lis, A., Pardela, Ł., Iwankowski, P., & Haans, A. (2021) · Landscape Online · doi:10.3097/lo.202091 · Cited by 5
Self-citationPerceived environmental safety and alertness in virtual urban environments
Jedon, R., Haans, A., & de Kort, Y. D. (2025) · Journal of Transport & Health · doi:10.1016/j.jth.2025.102138 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationPark, W., Son, D., Im, B., Her, J., Kim, Y.-J., & Kim, S.-N. (2025) · Virtual Reality · doi:10.1007/s10055-025-01211-3 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…lab-based studies utilizing photographs or visual simulation techniques have partially addressed these constraints, demonstrating that brighter lighting conditions enhance perceptions of visibility and safety (Boomsma and Steg 2014a, b; Nasar and Bokharaei 2017; van Rijswijk and Haans 2018).”
Li, H., Liu, Q., Yang, Y., Liu, L., Zhang, G.-D., Zhang, X., Yin, M.-Y., Cao, Y., & Browning, M. H. (2025) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-025-05666-2 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Moreover, there may be an acquired association between lighting and safety regardless of the presence of others or clarity of view (van Rijswijk and Haans, 2017).”
Li, H., Yang, Y., Liu, Q., Zhang, X., Yin, M.-Y., Zhang, G.-D., & Cao, Y. (2024) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/13591053241307366 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…to enhancing visibility, ALAN evidently increases safety; for instance, improved lighting can reduce the incidence of traffic-related accidents (Boyce, 2019; Cheng et al., 2016; Uttley et al., 2015) and may also help to decrease crime rates and associated fear (van Rijswijk and Haans, 2017).”
Pardela, Ł., Lis, A., & Zalewska, K. (2023) · Landscape Online · doi:10.3097/lo.2023.1118 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
The effect of non-uniform urban illumination upon pedestrians’ alertness and sense of safety
Jedon, R., Haans, A., & de Kort, Y. (2022) · IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environment · doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1099/1/012010 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Perceived environmental safety was measured using three items from van Rijswijk, Rooks and Haans.[28,29] Example items include “How safe or unsafe do you judge this environment?” and “How uneasy or comfortable do you feel with the idea of having to walk into this environment?”.”
MethodInfluentialSelf-citationTan, X.-Y., Song, Q., Liu, X., & Qiu, W. (2025) · Journal of Urban Management · doi:10.1016/j.jum.2025.09.005 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Bornioli, A., & Gatersleben, B. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102722 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Sokolova, M. A., Bystryantseva, N. V., & Silkina, M. A. (2022) · Light & Engineering · doi:10.33383/2021-067 · Cited by 3
Explaining Walkability with a Zero-Shot Multimodal LLM: Validation and Empirical Application
Yoo, M., Cho, G.-H., & Kim, D. (2026) · Sustainable cities and society · doi:10.1016/j.scs.2026.107431 · Cited by 2
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Perceived safety in urban parks: CPTED, place attachment and the COVID-19 paradigm
Chen, X., Marzbali, M. H., & Armitage, R. (2025) · Environment, Development and Sustainability · doi:10.1007/s10668-025-06865-2 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Is it the darkness that you fear? The impact of anxiety on pedestrian tolerance for darkness
Jedon, R., Haans, A., van den Akkerveken, I., & de Kort, Y. D. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102720 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationJedon, R., Haans, A., Widdershoven, P., & de Kort, Y. D. (2024) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102514 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationThinking night studies through a southern European perspective
Tomasella, G. (2024) · Geography Compass · doi:10.1111/gec3.12735 · Cited by 2
Perspectives on urban lighting: Pedestrian visual comfort and safety preferences
Wei, L. (2025) · MEGARON / Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Architecture E-Journal · doi:10.14744/megaron.2025.84760 · Cited by 2
“The prospect-refuge theory further emphasizes the role of lighting in shaping perceptions of safety, particularly in natural environments such as parks (van Rijswijk & Haans, 2018).”
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“23 On university campuses, adequate lighting was one of the primary reasons for perceiving spaces as safe, while the lack of road lighting contributed to the opposite view.”
Wang, S., Feng, B., Law, R., Guo, B., Pan, Q., & Liu, J. (2026) · Journal of China Tourism Research · doi:10.1080/19388160.2026.2660923 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Pixels, Plants, and People: Affective Evaluation of Urban Green Spaces
Latifzadeh, K., Emami, P., Emami, F., Duraisamy, S., & Leiva, L. A. (2026) · International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3772318.3791826 · Cited by 1
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Kuo, Y.-C., & Cheng, C.-K. (2024) · Landscape and Ecological Engineering · doi:10.1007/s11355-024-00629-2 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…such as prospect-refuge (Haans and de Kort 2012), enclosure (Baran et al. 2018), accessibility (Herzog and Kropscott 2004), and lighting conditions (van Rijswijk and Haans 2018), require that multiperspectives, distance perception, and environmental characteristics be presented with IVR technology.”
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- Authors
- van Rijswijk, L., & Haans, A.
- Affiliations
- Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Haans, Antal
- ORCID
- Haans, Antal
- Venue
- Environment and Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-07-20
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 889-912
- ISSN
- 0013-9165 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-390X
- PMC
- PMC6130126
- OpenAlex
- W2738800075
- Cited by
- 102
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 7.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Environment and Behavior (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- TU/e Research Portal (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- Agentschap NL (Point One scheme)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Urban Design and Spatial Analysis
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Night-time city culture
- Keywords
- lighting quality, perceived safety, urban streets, night, prospect-refuge theory, concealment, entrapment, prospects, environmental assessment
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