A Critical Review of Street Lighting, Crime and Fear of Crime in the British City

Abstract

The UK government has recently made £300 million available to help local authorities to modernise their street lighting. In consideration of such future funding, this paper reviews the relationship between lighting and crime, explores the current theoretical explanations, and discusses the limitations of the existing BS 5489 lighting standards as they relate to crime reduction.British street lighting standards rely largely on official recorded crime statistics as the preferred measure of crime and, crucially, fear of crime maps have been shown to differ markedly from the reality suggested by recorded crime statistics (Brantingham et al,1977; Vrij and Winkel,1991). The implications of utilising the current classification of streets according to levels of recorded crime and levels of pedestrian and traffic flows to determine acceptable lighting levels are presented. In the light of recent research on crime and street lighting, local authorities might usefully critically review lighting levels following the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Acknowledging the emergence of the 24-hour city, the policy implications for improving the crime reduction potential of street lighting are discussed.

Managing crime and the fear of crime at railway stations––a case study in South Wales (UK)

“…A follow-up study of lighting at Valley Lines railway stations is currently underway with the objective of investigating lighting standards and existing lighting levels at railway stations in an attempt to allay such widespread and specific personal safety fears. Indeed, a recent study has revealed that current street lighting levels may not always be met, and indeed, the standards may themselves require refinement (Cozens et al, 2003). Although at an early stage, as part of its commitment to improve passenger safety, Valley Lines have installed transparent shelters at seven stations in order to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of this design modification.…”

Road lighting and pedestrian reassurance after dark: A review

“….deterrent effects of good design, layout and lighting'. 8 Wayfinding studies use the term reassurance when discussing the use of signage and landmarks to confirm that the correct route is being followed. 9,10 A place will be considered unsafe (i.e.…”

Enhancing City Sustainability through Smart Technologies: A Framework for Automatic Pre-Emptive Action to Promote Safety and Security Using Lighting and ICT-Based Surveillance

“…The correlation between lighting intensity and crime can therefore be determined as situational, as it can only be determined through specific cases and cannot be applied as a general rule of thumb. However, higher street light luminance usually reduces fear of crime, especially in women [80,81]. Table 1 shows relevant published studies on the effect of lighting on crime where the uncertainty described above is obvious.…”