A Behavioural Analysis of Outdoor Thermal Comfort: A Comparative Analysis between Formal and Informal Shading Practices in Urban Sites

Mohamed H. Elnabawi and Neveen Hamza
Additional contact information
Mohamed H. Elnabawi: College of Engineering, Applied Science University (ASU), Bahrain, In Partnership with London South Bank University, London SE1 0AA, UK
Neveen Hamza: School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-14

Abstract: This study calls for the integration of context-based socio-cultural habits and learning from local practices in providing outdoor thermal comfort in conservation areas. These parameters have direct impacts on outdoor activities, especially in hot arid climates. The study took place in two nearby locations one renovated and all external shadings removed to provide visual vistas to monuments while on the same street, no more than 1500 m apart, local shading practices were left in places. Sun-exposed as opposed to shaded sites were compared for subjective thermal comfort and outdoor activity, via structured interviews, observations, and wide-ranging micrometeorological measurements. The aim was to investigate psychological factors, including overall thermal comfort and perception, in addition to environmental parameters, such as solar radiation intensity and thermal adaptation. The analysis illustrates the importance of shading as a dominant factor in achieving thermal comfort on the urban scale, with a neutral temperature in summer of 29.9 °C and 29.2 °C for shaded and sun-exposed locations, respectively. The results suggest people may be more willing to tolerate higher temperatures in shaded rather than sun-exposed locations. Moreover, cultural constraints and context-based behaviour proved to have some influences on people’s levels of adaptation and their thermal behaviour.

Keywords: human behaviour; outdoor thermal comfort; thermal sensation vote; physiological equivalent temperature (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9032/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9032/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9032-:d:437463

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().