Sustainable University Campuses: Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Lightscapes in Outdoor Spaces

A lightscape, as a special visual landscape, has unique temporal and spatial characteristics that traditional photometric measurements and descriptions struggle to capture accurately. Despite their significance, there is a lack of in-depth understanding of the on-site perception of lightscapes’ temporal and spatial characteristics, including in outdoor university campus spaces. This study aims to explore the temporal and spatial characteristics of outdoor lightscapes on university campuses and their potential perceptual influencing factors, providing sustainable design, planning, and management suggestions for campus lightscapes. This study was conducted in the Wushan Campus of the South China University of Technology. It employs a “lightwalk” method for on-site perception evaluation, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigate the temporal and spatial characteristics of lightscapes in outdoor university campus spaces and the effect of temporal and spatial factors on lightscape perception. The main findings are as follows: (1) Meteorological, architectural, and biophilic lightscape dominate the outdoor campus lightscapes. (2) The temporal and spatial characteristics of the lightscapes are affected by changes in natural light, the transition of light sources from day to night, human activity patterns, and the functional characteristics of the site. (3) The correlation between meteorological and traffic lightscape types and lightscape perception is diminished during the evening periods. This method should be a good way to optimize water and architectural lightscape at night to alleviate discomfort. (4) In green-shaded spaces, the association between meteorological, architectural, and traffic lightscape types and the evaluations of emotional, luminous, and eventful aspects is significantly enhanced, suggesting an increase in such spaces to improve lightscape experience quality. This study advocates that the construction of buildings and environments should be “human-oriented”, paying attention to the scientific foundation that humans perceive the habitat environment through the “five senses”. Research on lightscapes’ temporal and spatial characteristics, exploration of the temporal and spatial modes of lightscape perception, and avoiding energy waste and light pollution are conducive to the design and construction of university campuses in line with the principles of sustainable development. The lightscape optimization strategies derived from this study can not only provide practical guidance for the design and management of campus but also may offer valuable recommendations for planning sustainable campus development.