A study on preferences and perceptions of night running pathway lighting environments in universities: a case study of sichuan university

Night running has become increasingly prevalent in universities, yet the specific lighting requirements of night running paths remain insufficiently understood. To investigate preferences and perceptions of lighting environments along campus running paths of different landscape types, the main campus of Sichuan University was selected as the study area. A mixed-methods approach combining motion trajectory tracking, image-based perception surveys, and on-site measurements was employed. Correlation analysis and curve fitting were used to examine preferences for lighting environments. The results reveal that the proportion of night running on high-scenic-value paths increases with higher track brightness, whereas an opposite trend is observed for low-scenic-value paths. It is therefore suggested that research on night running lighting environments should integrate both objective and subjective methods. Differentiated lighting strategies should be developed according to scenic value: illuminance levels should be improved for high-scenic-value paths, while light distribution should be optimized for low-scenic-value paths. This study provides an empirical basis for the lighting design of university night running paths and offers methodological reference for future research in the field.