Coupling and coordination association between night light intensity and women safety – A comparative assessment of Indian metropolitan cities

Street lighting is an important aspect influencing women safety (WS) at night. Increased crime rate against women (CRAW) in Indian metropolitan areas (IMC) have a negative impact on the establishment of a safe environment for women (SEW). Women feel insecure when traveling alone because visibility is poor at night on urban streets. In order to create a safe environment and promote social justice, the study aims to analyze the impact of night light intensity (LI) on WS. The research uses remote sensing nighttime light (NTL) data to assess the temporal transition of LI and uses the coupling and coordination degree (CCD) technique to analyze the interaction between LI and WS in 53 IMC from 2012 to 2021. The following conclusions are drawn - first, LI has a higher temporal transition than CRAW in capital cities than non-capital cities due to better streetlight infrastructure. Second, CRAW shows a significant negative but three times higher impact while LI shows a significant positive impact on women safety. Third, Capital cities have 6.58% higher increases in coupling and 5.45% better levels of coordination compared to non-capital cities. Cities with high LI and high WS have a good level of coupling and coordination. Lastly, it is estimated that 96% of cities lack efficient light energy for SEW development. This study also makes policy recommendations to assist decision-makers in developing ways to improve the SEW by prioritizing cities. To move further, future studies should combine different time zones, such as daytime LI and crime rate, with other demographic groupings. This study can help to better understand the present situation of WS at night and serve as a reference for future studies on the subject.