Lighting the night: Unveiling the restorative potential of urban green spaces in nighttime environments

Abstract

The evolution of modern lifestyles has significantly enriched the diversity of nighttime outdoor activities, making the creation of high-quality urban green spaces a significant demand in contemporary living. However, research on the restorative potential of green spaces at night remains scarce, particularly with respect to the restorative benefits of vegetation and lighting characteristics in nocturnal environments. Based on a field experiment conducted in Singapore, known as a Garden City, we assessed visitors’ nighttime restorative experiences in green spaces through self-reported measures. The study focuses on measuring degree of illumination and investigating how nighttime characteristics influence restoration. Our findings reveal that high visual accessibility plays a more positive role in promoting restoration. In addition, path lighting may diminish the experiences of fascination and being away, as does foreground lighting. Restorative effects increase with additional background lighting, closely associated with extent. Enhanced lighting around paths improves evaluations of extent and compatibility, further supporting restoration. Finally, across different lighting directions and distributions, scattered lighting demonstrates greater restorative benefits compared to focused lighting, while uniform light distribution proves critical for visitor experiences. These insights provide valuable guidance for landscape planners and policymakers, enabling them to design restorative nighttime environments through targeted interventions. By integrating social sustainability considerations, nighttime green space lighting design can attract more users, thereby fostering the restorative and health benefits of nocturnal urban environments.