Office of Core Curriculum, Singapore Management University, Singapore; Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Aug 15;834:155294. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155294. Epub 2022 Apr 18.
Designing cities for thermal comfort is an important priority in a warming and urbanizing world. As temperatures in cities continue to break extreme heat records, it is necessary to develop and test new approaches capable of tracking human thermal sensations influenced by microclimate conditions, complex urban geometries, and individual characteristics in dynamic settings. Thermal walks are a promising novel research method to address this gap. During a thermal walk in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, we examined relationships between the built environment, microclimate, and subjective thermal judgments across a downtown city neighborhood slated for redevelopment. Subjects equipped with GPS devices participated in a 1-hour walk on a hot sunny day and recorded their experience in a field guide. Microclimate measurements were simultaneously collected using the mobile human-biometeorological instrument platform MaRTy. Results revealed significant differences in physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) and modified physiologically equivalent temperature (mPET) and between street segments with more than 18 °C (25 °C mPET) between the maximum and minimum values. Wider range of mPET values reflected the inclusion of individual level data into the model. Streets with higher sky view factor (SVF) and east-west orientation showed a higher PET and mPET overall. Furthermore, we showed evidence of thermal alliesthesia, the pleasure resulting from slight changes in microclimate conditions. Participants' sense of pleasure was related to the mean PET of the segment they just walked, with linear regression explaining over 60% of the variability. We also showed that estimated percent shade was significantly correlated with SVF, PET, mPET, and pleasure, indicating that participants could sense minor changes in microclimate and perceived shade as pleasant. Although generalization of results is limited by a low sample size, findings of this study improve the understanding of dynamic thermal comfort in complex urban environments and highlight the value of thermal walks as a robust research method.
为热舒适度设计城市是在变暖和城市化世界中的一个重要优先事项。随着城市温度继续打破极端高温记录，有必要开发和测试新的方法，以跟踪受微气候条件、复杂城市几何形状和个体特征影响的人类热感觉，这些方法在动态环境中是可行的。热步行是解决这一差距的一种很有前途的新研究方法。在美国亚利桑那州凤凰城的一次热步行中，我们考察了城市中心区一个计划重新开发的街区的建筑环境、微气候和主观热判断之间的关系。配备 GPS 设备的研究对象在炎热晴朗的一天进行了 1 小时的步行，并在实地指南中记录了他们的体验。同时使用移动人体生物气象仪器平台 MaRTy 收集微气候测量数据。结果表明，在生理等效温度（PET）和修正生理等效温度（mPET）方面，以及在街道段之间，具有超过 18°C（25°C mPET）的街道段之间，存在显著差异。mPET 值的范围较宽反映了个体水平数据纳入模型的情况。天空视野系数（SVF）较高和东西朝向的街道整体上 PET 和 mPET 较高。此外，我们还证明了热适应现象的存在，即对微气候条件的微小变化产生的愉悦感。参与者的愉悦感与他们刚刚走过的路段的平均 PET 相关，线性回归解释了超过 60%的可变性。我们还表明，估计的阴影百分比与 SVF、PET、mPET 和愉悦感显著相关，这表明参与者可以感知微气候的微小变化，并将阴影感知为愉悦。尽管由于样本量较小，结果的推广受到限制，但本研究的发现提高了对复杂城市环境中动态热舒适度的理解，并强调了热步行作为一种稳健的研究方法的价值。
