Unwin, J; (2019) Lighting for reassurance. In: Davoudian, N, (ed.) Urban Lighting for People: Evidence-Based Lighting Design for the Built Environment. (pp. 56-75). RIBA Publishing: London, UK.

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Abstract

The idea that lighting plays a role in pedestrian reassurance is not at all new. Laws related to the lit environment were passed early in the 15th century in London, when the Court of the Common Council proclaimed that a lit lantern should be placed outside every house during the busy Christmas Watch. Likewise in Paris, Louis XI ordered his subjects to shine lanterns in the houses of windows at junctions to deter bandits. 1 Jumping centuries ahead, British Standard 307, dated 1927, recommends minimum horizontal illuminance levels for streets, ranging from 0.01 foot-candles (equivalent to 0.1 lux – less than moonlight) to 20 foot-candles (equivalent to 21.5 lux – just over the requirements for a typically lit underpass under a busy traffic intersection). This range is much bigger than the minimum and maximum illuminance levels provided for pedestrians today. So, how did we come up with these numbers? And how do they relate to what people feel and need? Standard writers no doubt have the best intentions at heart – they say they want to provide environments that are both safe and comfortable to use. However, it is impossible to find the origin of the rationale behind recommended illuminance levels other than somebody thought it was a good idea, and nobody complained. Perhaps as our capacity for interior lighting increased, so too did our appetite for exterior lighting, not quelled by the price of electricity, which has fallen over time. Now that the expectation for exterior lighting has been set, when street lighting is dimmed or switched off we feel as though something is missing, something which is reassuring, comforting and lets us see enough to be able to make a judgement about how to behave in an environment.

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