Individual factors influencing the assessment of the outdoor lighting of an urban footpath

During the hours of darkness, the mobility of young women, the elderly and the disabled is limited in urban areas. In a field study possible predictors of the perceived visual accessibility and the perceived danger of an urban footpath were investigated. Eighty-one people individually walked along the footpath after dark. They subjectively assessed the environment and answered a questionnaire about personality and socio-demographics. Visual accessibility was predicted by visual field, environmental trust and brightness. Danger was predicted by the pleasantness of the lighting, gender, brightness and environmental trust. Consequently, the influence of individual characteristics, including the subjective judgments of brightness and hedonic tone and the personality dimension of trust in the physical environment, should be considered in the design of exterior lighting for urban footpaths.