Search Results (839)

As rapid population aging coincides with intensifying urban heat island (UHI) effects, ensuring the outdoor thermal comfort of the elderly in hot–humid regions has become a critical challenge. This study investigates the influence of residential spatial morphology and wind environment on elderly thermal comfort in Fuzhou, China, by integrating PHOENICS and RayMan numerical simulations with a multivariate statistical framework. The Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) was calculated across three metabolic intensities (sedentary, walking, and exercising), while the LMG algorithm was used in R to identify the driving mechanisms. Residential layouts are stratified into High-Performance (Group A) and High-Risk (Group B) categories based on their thermal risk. In Group A, the microclimate is convective-dominant wind speed and air changes per hour are the primary determinants of thermal comfort. Conversely, Group B exhibits a radiation-dominant mechanism, with the sky view factor acting as the primary driver of heat stress in confined environments. Furthermore, metabolic intensity emerges as a decisive factor, as physical exercise frequently pushes PET beyond the 37.1 °C threshold even in high-performance layouts. Accordingly, this study proposes differentiated strategies: prioritizing ventilation-led optimization for Group A and radiation-shielding interventions for Group B, while advocating for supplementary active cooling in high-intensity activity zones to safeguard the geriatric population during peak summer heat. Full article

Urban green spaces play a fundamental role in maintaining ecological stability, supporting biodiversity, regulating urban microclimates, and improving human wellbeing. Because photosynthetic activity is a key indicator of vegetation functionality and environmental adaptation, this study evaluated the photosynthetic performance of vegetation across eight urban green spaces within the campus of the University of Life Sciences “King Michael I” in Timișoara, Romania. Vegetation structure, spatial organization, and estimated photosynthetic rates of selected ornamental species were comparatively analyzed under the temperate climatic conditions of the study area. Two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the spatial characteristics of the investigated green spaces had a highly significant effect on photosynthetic variability (F(7, 42) = 6.783; p = 0.000021), explaining approximately 46% of the total variance, whereas species identity accounted for only 13.3% and showed no statistically significant influence (p = 0.052863). The highest photosynthetic performance was recorded in structurally diverse green spaces characterized by dense tree canopy and balanced woody–herbaceous vegetation, whereas the lowest values occurred in highly urbanized areas with limited vegetation cover. These findings demonstrate that the structural organization and vegetation composition of urban green spaces strongly influence photosynthetic performance and support the use of integrated ecological assessment as a decision-support tool for sustainable and climate-resilient urban green infrastructure planning. Full article

Urban parks provide recreation, cultural ecosystem services, microclimate regulation, and benefits for well-being, but their realized value may vary with air pollution and heat. This exploratory study linked 2947 Google Maps reviews posted in 2024–2025 to daily PM2.5, temperature, humidity, and precipitation and assessed a BERT-based workflow for classifying star-linked sentiment and dominant emotion text labels. Star-linked sentiment classifications were highly favorable (mean score of 4.86/5; 88.39% very positive). Independent weighting of the rounded air-quality and heat-stress subgroup summaries yielded consistent approximate overall shares for provisional joy (28.9%) and anger (32.5%), but the full seven-class distribution could not be reconstructed from the archive. All emotion-label analyses remain provisional. All 25 tested environmental correlations were negligible (absolute Spearman ρ ≤ 0.049), and none met the Bonferroni-corrected significance threshold (α = 0.002). Posting dates classified as heat-stress days showed descriptive differences in provisional anger and joy labels, but posting date is an uncertain proxy for the visit date. The findings do not establish individual-level exposure associations. They instead illustrate the methodological safeguards needed before user-generated park feedback and environmental monitoring can support climate-responsive management. Full article

Building-applied photovoltaics (BAPV) offer a practical retrofit pathway for the prefabricated social housing estates of Central and Eastern Europe. This study assesses the solar and photovoltaic potential of post-WW II housing districts in Poznań, Poland, through a multi-scale workflow spanning the city, district, and building levels. Measured municipal rooftop data for 336 residential buildings in four districts were combined with tree-inclusive parametric solar simulations, calibrated against the rooftop solar cadastre (normalized mean bias error of +0.4% after calibration), to select South Winogrady and two representative buildings. Three PV design scenarios were then evaluated in roof, facade, and combined configurations using a techno-economic model that incorporates manufacturer-warranted degradation, maintenance, inverter replacement, and a ±25% electricity price and installation cost sensitivity envelope. Roof configurations pay back in 6.6–7.2 years (30-year return on investment of 286–321%), facade systems are economically defensible only on the best-exposed surfaces (8.9–13.8 years), and all configurations remain profitable even under the pessimistic bounding case. ENVI-met simulations of the same scenarios show localized pedestrian-level reductions in the Universal Thermal Climate Index of up to 2.41 °C near the PV-equipped buildings, persisting under 2050 climate projections. The results provide a transferable evidence chain for prioritizing BAPV retrofits in standardized post-war housing stock. Full article

Optimizing outdoor thermal environments is essential for sustainable urban development and spatial resilience. Existing urban microclimate studies generally adopt the 1.5 m pedestrian height to represent outdoor thermal conditions. However, this widely accepted assumption has not been verified in multi-level campus spaces with terrace-induced complex three-dimensional environments, particularly in severe cold climate zones. This study investigates vertical thermal stratification and the relative influences of orientation, surface material, and height in Changchun, China. Field measurements at four levels were integrated with ENVI-met simulations calibrated against six independent validation sites. During summer peak hours, orientation dominates the thermal regime, outweighing both material and height. The peak thermal load shifts vertically from the south at lower elevations to the west at upper levels, generating a maximum air temperature difference of 1.66 °C compared to the consistently coolest east-facing terraces at 14:00. The vertical temperature profile does not follow a simple trend but varies with the surrounding geometry. Mid-level thermal trap appears near 3.5 m in the semi-enclosed building, where air temperature peaks before declining toward the roof. Moreover, an idealized model shows monotonic cooling with height, confirming that local obstructions cause the observed heat accumulation. During summer peak hours, surface material exerts a highly limited direct effect on ambient air temperature within these well-mixed three-dimensional spaces. Differences among concrete, asphalt, wood, and turf stay below 0.1 °C, roughly two orders of magnitude smaller than the orientation-driven contrast, because turbulent mixing and façade radiation overwhelm local surface heat fluxes. The findings highlight the inadequacy of evaluating thermal conditions at a single height, and challenge the conventional assumptions that material substitution is the primary heat mitigation measure in multi-level environments and that building orientation plays only a minor role in microclimate regulation. All quantitative outputs stem from ideal courtyard shapes and cloudless summer scenarios, reflecting mechanistic microclimate patterns instead of globally applicable predictive metrics. Local validation is mandatory before extending these conclusions to other seasons or building typologies. For sustainable summer thermal regulation on multi-level campuses, this work highlights orientation and adaptive shading as primary design measures, while material configuration acts only as auxiliary fine-tuning. Full article

Cities are confronted with heat, drought, and pluvial flooding, highlighting the need for renovation strategies that enhance climate resilience while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. This research developed an integrated assessment framework to quantify the mitigation potential of urban and building surface components using five area-based key performance indicators (KPIs): Surface Heat Contribution (SHC), Flood Mitigation Factor (FMF), Water Storage Capacity (WSC), Evaporation Volume (EVA), and Global Warming Potential (GWP). The framework combines simplified life-cycle assessment with biophysical models for heat, water storage, and evaporation, designed as an accessible complement to 3D microclimate tools. Applied to an exemplary residential area in Daegu, South Korea, the method benchmarks existing surfaces and evaluates renovation scenarios targeting heat reduction, flood mitigation, and drought resilience. Results show that surface renovation measures improve mitigation potential. The performance varies across KPIs, involving trade-offs with embodied emissions. Optimal outcomes arise from balanced hybrid strategies integrating complementary measures. Selective greening combined with low heat capacity, high-conductivity materials (e.g., metal façades) effectively reduces heat stress but increases embodied GWP and structural demands. Permeable and greened surfaces improve WSC and EVA, supporting short-term flood mitigation, yet reveal limitations under prolonged rainfall. The proposed framework supports transparent and low-carbon climate-resilient renovation decision-making. Full article

To mitigate the health and environmental risks of urbanisation and the urban heat island effect, urban planning is shifting towards promoting active mobility. The success of these efforts largely depends on understanding people’s thermal comfort on the move, driving research towards the investigation of the complex interdependencies between microclimatic conditions and the real-time experiences of pedestrians and cyclists. This literature review aims to present the state of the art of research at the neighbourhood and street levels by analysing the methodological frameworks employed and the outcomes achieved. The paper adopts a thematic clustering approach, grouping the articles on the basis of their research objectives, methodologies and the relationships between active mobility and comfort. The literature review highlights a shift from static to dynamic comfort assessments and a focus on active travel as a continuous experience rather than the sum of stationary moments. The primary findings include the consolidation of the thermal walk methodology and the emergence of cumulative stress indices. Evidence from heat stress contexts suggests that pedestrians prefer thermal diversity, which causes thermal alliesthesia, over monotonous conditions. The research highlights the role of heat stress as a barrier to walkability in hot and temperate climates, causing route deviations and lower walking speeds, with the opposite pattern in severely cold settings. This review identifies several research gaps, including a lack of standardised dynamic assessment methods, low generalisability and transferability of the results, and insufficient investigation of cyclists’ dynamic comfort compared with that of pedestrians. Full article

Urban areas face increasing challenges related to heat stress and urban heat islands, necessitating effective strategies for microclimate regulation and thermal comfort enhancement. This study investigates the cooling effect of three tree species, Ficus retusa, Ficus benjamina and Fraxinus spp. (Ash trees), on urban microclimates and thermal comfort in downtown Annaba, Algeria, during the summer. The methodology comprises two complementary methods. First, field measurements of air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), and wind speed (Ws) were recorded hourly from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Second, collected data was inputted into the ENVI-met microclimate model to simulate various urban canopy scenarios. Microclimate variations, including air temperature (Ta), mean radiant temperature (T_mrt), relative humidity, wind speed, and the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) index, were computed over a 13 h period, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., to examine the cooling effect of each species and their impact on outdoor thermal comfort. The results demonstrate the notable cooling effect of Ficus species and Fraxinus spp. with Ficus species generally exhibiting larger reductions in air temperature (0.9 °C to 2 °C) and PET index (7.3 °C to 7.7 °C), and higher increases in relative humidity (5.6% to 6.8%) compared to Ash trees. Full article

Extreme climate events and rapid urbanization pose severe threats to urban water sustainability and environmental resilience. This study presents a surrogate-assisted hydrological simulation framework designed to support sustainable urban drainage planning and multi-objective scenario exploration. The proposed approach integrates a physics-based hydrodynamic model with a machine learning surrogate (XGBoost) to emulate system responses across diverse design configurations. Under the assumed setup, the framework rapidly evaluates hydrological indicators (peak runoff, flood depth, duration, and extent) alongside microclimatic co-benefits (urban cooling and ventilation) driven by blue-green infrastructure. The surrogate model demonstrates high fidelity $\left(R^2\ge 0.93\right)$, achieving a speedup factor of ${10}^5$ to enable sustainable design screening and trade-off analysis between flood mitigation and urban liveability. Furthermore, post-construction water quality baselines demonstrate the framework’s capacity to incorporate holistic environmental metrics. Overall, this research provides a computationally efficient decision-support tool to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action)—by offering an actionable methodology for climate-resilient grey-green infrastructure planning under data-constrained conditions. Full article

Urban green infrastructure design faces growing challenges posed by climate change and urbanization, necessitating precise, site-specific plant selection. Existing approaches rely on general guidelines and lack integration of environmental data with reproducible decision-making methods. This study proposes a data-driven parametric framework combining Grasshopper with environmental analysis plugins (Ladybug, Honeybee, Gismo) and a custom rule-based plant suitability model. A botanical database of over 100 species was developed to encode environmental requirements, growth characteristics, and maintenance parameters. The system processes site-specific solar radiation, soil conditions, microclimate, and water availability to evaluate plant–environment compatibility and generate spatially explicit planting configurations. The framework was validated in an urban case study, demonstrating improved alignment between plant requirements and site conditions and reduced selection time compared to conventional approaches. Integrating environmental data with parametric tools supports more transparent and reproducible decision-making in climate-responsive urban vegetation design. Full article

Rapid urbanisation and climate change intensify heat, drought, wind exposure, and salinity risks in arid coastal cities, while simultaneously increasing dependence on trees for microclimate regulation and public-space quality. However, integrated evidence linking taxonomic concentration, spatial structure, tree dimensions, and current vitality remains scarce for Central Asian cities on the Caspian coast. This study characterised 13,951 trees across 10 green spaces in Aktau, Kazakhstan, belonging to 10 species, 10 genera, and 7 families, using a comprehensive inventory and an integrated taxonomic, spatial, and vitality framework. Stand density ranged from 27.1 to 510.3 trees ha⁻¹. Ailanthus altissima and Platycladus orientalis accounted for 42.74% and 23.13% of all trees, respectively, and together formed 65.87% of the inventory. Two species, two genera, and one family exceeded the indicative 10/20/30 diversification thresholds. The Shannon index ranged from 1.19 to 2.00, Pielou evenness from 0.52 to 0.87, and the share of the dominant species from 24.2% to 63.2%. Of all trees, 12,205 (87.48%) were classified as in good condition, but three sites accounted for 83.0% of all satisfactory or unsatisfactory trees. Maclura pomifera and Gleditsia triacanthos had the highest proportions of trees in good condition (96.3% and 94.2%), whereas Catalpa speciosa had the lowest (66.0%). The inventory, therefore, reveals a favourable current condition, but limited taxonomic redundancy and localised management hotspots. The findings provide a baseline for climate-resilient urban landscape planning based on gradual diversification, site-specific irrigation and soil management, control of invasive recruitment, and repeated monitoring of condition, growth, and mortality. Full article

Dense tropical cities face increasing outdoor heat stress and require reliable microclimate modelling tools to support climate-responsive urban planning. However, the performance of these models remains insufficiently documented under tropical conditions. The objective of this study is to experimentally validate the performance of ENVI-met for outdoor thermal comfort assessment in a dense tropical neighbourhood on Reunion Island. Validation was performed using a network of 11 low-cost weather stations distributed across the study area, providing observations of air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and globe temperature, from which mean radiant temperature (MRT) and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) were derived. Model performance was evaluated through multipoint validation, error-propagation analysis and sensitivity experiments. Results show that ENVI-met reproduces air temperature and relative humidity with good accuracy (RMSE of 1.2 °C and 5%), while larger uncertainties are observed for wind speed (up to 4 m s⁻¹) and MRT (up to 8 °C), with strong spatial variability. Error-propagation analysis indicates that 62% of the UTCI error variance is explained by combined microclimate simulation errors, with radiative conditions emerging as the dominant contributor. Sensitivity analyses identify boundary wind forcing as the main source of modelling uncertainty. Overall, the proposed validation framework provides practical guidance for improving ENVI-met applications in tropical urban environments and supports more robust climate-responsive urban design. Full article

Urban residential outdoor spaces are increasingly affected by high temperatures, strong solar radiation, and uneven wind conditions, which influence residents’ outdoor activities and thermal comfort. This study proposes an evidence-based approach for the fine-grained design of residential outdoor activity spaces based on age-specific activity patterns and microclimatic conditions. Using 1096 valid questionnaires, field observations, and in situ microclimate measurements across four seasons, we quantified the activity patterns, temporal distributions, and spatial preferences of children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. Results reveal statistically significant age- and season-dependent differences in environmental preferences (Kruskal–Wallis H = 56.78, p < 0.001 for light priority; H = 26.81, p < 0.001 for thermal priority across age groups). Children and older adults exhibited sustained and widely distributed activities, whereas adolescents and adults showed more concentrated temporal patterns. In summer, activities shifted toward mornings and evenings to avoid heat, while in winter, activities peaked around midday and afternoon. Wind and light conditions were prioritized over thermal conditions across all seasons: in summer, 47.2% of respondents ranked wind first; in winter, 50.9% ranked light first. Tree shading consistently reduced air temperature, black globe temperature, and WBGT relative to open areas in every season, with the largest mean differences observed in spring (ΔT_g = 1.19 °C) and the largest instantaneous difference during summer early afternoon (ΔT_g = 1.51 °C at 13:00). Integrating these findings, this study proposes evidence-based design strategies, including optimized functional layouts, shading and ventilation features, sun-exposure management, and nighttime lighting, providing quantitative support for improving comfort, safety, and usability in residential outdoor spaces. Full article

The intensification of heat waves and the increase in average temperatures, particularly evident in the Mediterranean context, underline the urgency of strengthening sustainable spatial planning, introducing concrete tools to understand and manage how urban form, land-use and local microclimate interact with each other. In this direction, the paper proposes an integrated methodological path to map territorial exposure to surface heat stress in densely urbanised contexts, applying it to the case study of the Caserta conurbation. The approach uses several levels of analysis: (i) the estimation of the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the calculation of Land Surface Temperature (LST) from the Landsat series (1987–2022), using radiance/reflectance measurements and deriving LST from the Top-of-Atmosphere Brightness Temperature (BT) and from the Land Surface Emissivity (LSE); (ii) the consistency check of satellite-derived surface temperature using meteorological station data from the archive of the Multi-Risk Functional Center of the Civil Protection of the Campania Region, fed by the measurements of the sensors installed in the area by the Campania Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAC); (iii) the evaluation of the intensity of the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) as the difference between LST values extracted from paired urban and non-urbanised reference areas; (iv) the verification of the relationship between NDVI and LST by linear regression, with NDVI as the explanatory variable and LST as the dependent variable, showing a statistically consistent inverse relationship. The results support a multi-scalar reading of the intervention priorities, highlighting that the potential relevance of nature-based solutions (NBS) and cooling strategies varies according to local urban morphology, geographical configuration, and degree of soil sealing, requiring context-specific planning evaluations. Full article

Urban Building Energy Modelling (UBEM) is increasingly recognised as a key tool for bridging building-scale analysis and city-level planning, supporting the decarbonisation of urban areas. It enables the assessment of building performance and the exploration of retrofit strategies, policy scenarios, and renewable integration. Over the past decade, UBEM has continuously evolved, encompassing physics-based, data-driven, and hybrid approaches, often supported by archetype generation and GIS workflows. Recent research also integrates microclimate, mobility, and green infrastructure. While this enriches analysis outcomes, it also leads to fragmentation, limiting tools’ comparability, transparency, and practical use by policymakers. This perspective paper provides a critical interpretation of the recent evolution in UBEM and proposes a goal-oriented classification of modelling approaches based on their final objectives rather than on calculation methodology. The paper also identifies three key gaps: the lack of scalable and consistent data frameworks, the absence of a shared terminology, and the need for criteria to assess whether models are “fit for purpose.” Addressing these issues through improved data infrastructures, conceptual clarity, and reliability assessment can support convergence without limiting innovation, fostering more robust and decision-relevant UBEM applications to support the energy transition. Full article