The impact of lighting parameters for pedestrian areas on their safety and reassuranceWei, Lanlan (Avtor) Kobav, Matej Bernard (Mentor) Street lightingenergy-efficientpedestrian behaviourpedestrian safetyobstacle detectionlighting designminimum illuminanceurban lighting planningoptimized lighting designnighttime spacenighttime visibilityreassuranceplateau effectadaptive lightingPublic lighting determines night-time visibility in urban spaces and influences pedestrians’ behaviour at night. Although traditional engineering standards focus on average illuminance, luminance, and spectral power distribution, these metrics often fail to take into account the specific behavioural needs of pedestrians. This study assessed objective functional capabilities related to obstacle detection, as well as subjective psychological states (particularly a sense of safety and preferences). By combining virtual simulations with field experiments in Ljubljana, Slovenia, this study establishes a new evidence-based foundation for urban lighting applications. The methodology comprises three distinct studies: a virtual preference survey (N=116), a field study using the “day–dark” reassurance methodology (N=35), and an on-site controlled obstacle detection experiment (N=56) with 14 distinct lighting conditions. Findings from the preference survey indicate that spatial “continuity,” defined as the perceived connectivity of lighting across the visual field, is an important factor influencing user preference. In the onsite study, minimum horizontal illuminance emerged as the most effective predictor of pedestrian reassurance. To bridge the perceptual gap between daytime and nighttime safety (defined as a 0.5 difference on a 5-point scale), the results established a required minimum horizontal illuminance of approximately 1.80 lx approx 0.15 cd/m²). These performance based trials revealed a distinct plateau effect in visibility. In the third experiment, obstacle detection accuracy stagnated once maximum and average illuminances reached 6.70 lx and 2.76 lx, respectively. These findings suggest that current strategies focused on maximising average illuminance yield diminishing returns in terms of safety improvements, and unnecessarily increasing energy consumption. Optimal nighttime lighting application requires site-specific approaches, with lighting spatial distribution and minimum illuminance thresholds taking priority. These empirical indicators provide a technical basis for refining international documents and standards such as CIE 115 and EN 13201, thereby promoting the development of urban lighting planning in a human-centred and adaptive direction. This approach effectively balances the requirements of pedestrian safety and ecological conservation.20262026-05-13 14:05:16Doktorsko delo/naloga182482VisID: 60986sl