Across the UK, parks are vital spaces for exercise, leisure, and community life. Yet research shows that women and girls often feel less safe in these spaces, particularly after dark. The Safer Parks guidance – created by Keep Britain Tidy, Make Space for Girls, the University of Leeds and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority – provides practical recommendations for making parks safer, more inclusive, and more welcoming.

The document is built on three core themes – eyes on the park, awareness, and inclusion – each supported by practical design and management principles. Let’s take a broad look at these ideas before focusing on one area that’s especially relevant to year-round, all-day access: lighting.

The full Safer Parks guidance can be found here.

The three pillars of Safer Parks

  1. Eyes on the park

This principle builds on Jane Jacobs’ “eyes on the street” concept which posits that the more people actively using and overlooking a space, the safer it feels. Key recommendations include:

  • Designing spaces to attract a steady flow of users throughout the day.
  • Locating popular facilities (cafés, outdoor gyms, play areas) where they’re visible and connected to well-used routes.
  • Encouraging activation through events, classes, and community uses – particularly those aimed at women and girls.

  1. Awareness

Awareness is about enabling users to see and be seen, navigate easily, and escape quickly if needed. Key recommendations include:

  • Visibility and openness – keeping sightlines clear through vegetation management and design.
  • Escape – avoiding enclosed or fenced layouts that can feel trapping.
  • Lighting – ensuring routes and key areas are well-lit without creating harsh contrasts or dark pockets.
  • Wayfinding and Layout – clear, logical routes and signage that help visitors feel oriented and confident.

  1. Inclusion

A safe park is also a welcoming one. This means:

  • Creating a sense of belonging by including facilities and activities that appeal to women and girls.
  • Using inclusive imagery and naming.
  • Ensuring access is safe, convenient, and connected to public transport.
  • Involving women and girls in co-design to address their specific needs.

Lighting – more than just brightness

The Safer Parks research found that 82% of women in Britain feel unsafe walking alone in a park after dark. Lighting is often one of the first interventions people think of – but “more light” isn’t always the answer. The guidance stresses that effective lighting should be:

  • Evenly distributed to avoid harsh contrasts between bright and dark zones.
  • Human-scaled rather than overwhelming floodlights that leave surrounding areas in shadow.
  • Good in colour rendering so people can see facial expressions and true colours, improving both perception and reality of safety.
  • Layered – combining path lighting, vertical lighting (on walls or tree trunks), and ambient lighting to make a space both functional and inviting.

Lighting and safety principles

The guidance links lighting to multiple safety benefits:

  1. Clear routes – lighting should highlight the main paths and exits, guiding users intuitively.
  2. Landmark illumination – lit maps, signs, and meeting points help with orientation and wayfinding.
  3. Vegetation awareness – low-level or vertical lighting can illuminate bushes and tree lines to reduce fear of concealment.
  4. Maintenance – a well-lit path is only effective if the lights are operational and not obscured by foliage.

Lighting is also seen as a potential activation tool – creating attractions that draw more people into the park during darker hours.

Learn more: Does Outdoor Lighting at Night Improve Public Safety >

Sustainability and wildlife considerations

The guidance is clear that lighting design must also consider:

  • Energy efficiency and running costs – smart controls, timers, and solar power can reduce impact.
  • Wildlife impacts – minimising blue light and unnecessary illumination helps protect biodiversity.
  • Targeted use – lighting only where and when it’s needed, such as main paths during key hours.

It also states that, because lighting is a complex area with specific requirements and a range of factors influencing how it is designed and implemented, it is important that lighting projects are evaluated by experts in lighting and ecology.

How our products fit the safer parks vision

On solar-eye.com, you’ll find a range of products that directly address the lighting recommendations in the Safer Parks guidance:

  1. Solareye80 solar powered ground lights

  • Designed to clearly define key routes through parks and open spaces.
  • Provide low-level, consistent light that avoids the harsh glare and dark-shadow effect of floodlighting.
  • 360° visibility increases the sense of openness and safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
  • Sustainable – completely solar-powered, no ongoing running costs.
  • Automatic dusk-to-dawn activation ensures lights are only on when needed, maximising efficiency and minimising energy wastage.
  • Available in white or warm white, as recommended in the Safer Parks guidance, can make spaces feel more welcoming and homely, encouraging a sense of belonging. Warm white is also especially suited for areas near sensitive wildlife habitats (see Solareye80 Bat Hat wildlife-friendly ground lighting for more information.)

  1. Solareye Bollard Light with motion sensor

  • Combines constant low-level lighting with a motion-activated brightness boost when users approach, aligning with the guidance’s recommendation to provide light only when necessary.
  • Ideal for main routes, entrances, and areas where extra reassurance is needed after dark.

  1. Solareye80 Bat Hat wildlife-friendly ground lighting

The Solareye80 Bat Hat offers the same night time visibility for cyclists and pedestrians as the original Solareye80. However, each light is fitted with a ‘Bat Hat’ which reduces upward light by 98%, greatly minimising the impact of artificial lighting on nocturnal animals, including bats. This product is ideal for balancing safety needs with biodiversity protection, as recommended in the Safer Parks guidance.

The Solareye80 Bat Hat is also available in warm white (2,700K) as recommended by the International Dark-Sky Association as part of their efforts to minimise light pollution and protect the night time environment for humans and wildlife. Their guidance recommends using light sources with a Correlated Colour Temperature (CCT) of 2,700K for optimal dark sky conditions, especially in areas like nature reserves and parks.

Read more: Ecological Light Pollution & the Need for Ecological Outdoor Lighting >

In line with the Safer Parks recommendation that lighting projects are evaluated by experts in lighting and ecology.  The Solareye80 Bat Hat product is recognised as a suitable mitigation method in the Bat Conservation Trust and the Institution of Lighting Professionals’ Guidance Note 8: Bats and Artificial Lighting. It is also featured in the CIEEM’s UK Bat Mitigation Guidelines as a sensitive and “bat-safe” approach to lighting.

Learn more:

  1. Solareye80 flush and Solareye90 surface-mounted ground lights

  • Flush-mounted ground lights are perfect for high-footfall paths where trip hazards must be minimised.
  • Surface-mounted units can be quickly retrofitted to existing routes, ideal for quick-win safety improvements.

These products support the guidance’s calls for well-lit main routes, wildlife-sensitive design, and sustainable energy use.

From principles to action

Implementing the lighting principles from Safer Parks with products like those listed above can:

  • Extend safe access to parks during winter afternoons and early mornings.
  • Encourage active travel (walking and cycling) after dark.
  • Support inclusive programming by making evening and early morning events feasible.
  • Contribute to a positive feedback loop: better lighting = more users = greater natural surveillance = safer parks.

However, as the guidance stresses, lighting alone isn’t a silver bullet. It works best when integrated with other interventions – such as clear signage, active programming, staff presence, and community co-design.

A brighter, safer future for parks

Parks should be places where everyone feels safe, welcome, and able to enjoy nature, exercise, and community life – whatever the time of day. The Safer Parks document provides a clear, research-based blueprint for achieving that goal.

By combining thoughtful design, inclusive programming, and smart, sustainable lighting solutions like those from Solareye, local authorities, park managers, and community groups can take meaningful steps toward making parks safer for women and girls – and, in turn, better for everyone.

Further reading:

Woodland at night

Blog | Protecting UK bats: challenges from habitat change and artificial light

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