Exploring the Impact of Daytime and Nighttime Campus Lighting on Emotional Responses and Perceived Restorativeness

The quality of campus environments plays an important role in the mental health of college students. However, the impact of nighttime lighting in campus settings has received limited attention. This study examines how different landscape lighting conditions affect emotions and the perceived restorative potential, providing a mixed-method research framework to assess nighttime landscapes. The study was conducted on a section of campus roadway under three scenarios: daytime (cloudy conditions) and two nighttime settings (landscape lights and streetlights, and streetlights only). We employed wearable biosensors, visitor-employed photography tasks, affective mapping, interviews, and self-reports to comprehensively assess the participants’ emotional responses and perceptions. Statistical analyses, including the Friedman test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, one-way ANOVA, Getis–Ord Gi* statistic and kernel density analysis, were used to evaluate differences in emotional and restorative perceptions across lighting scenarios. The results showed that nighttime environments with well-designed landscape lighting enhance the restorative potential more compared to street lighting alone and, in some cases, even surpass daytime settings. Skin conductance data, integrated with spatial–temporal trajectories and affective mapping, revealed clear patterns of emotional responses, emphasizing the role of lighting in shaping environmental quality. These findings provide actionable insights for architects and lighting designers to create nighttime landscapes that promote emotional well-being and restoration.