Interrelationships between Land Use Land Cover (LULC) and Human Thermal Comfort (HTC): A Comparative Analysis of Different Spatial Settings

Lee Bak Yeo, Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling, Mou Leong Tan and Pau Chung Leng
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Lee Bak Yeo: School of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, Kuala Lumpur 53300, Malaysia
Gabriel Hoh Teck Ling: Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81310, Malaysia
Mou Leong Tan: Geoinformatic Unit, Geography Section, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, USM, Pulau Pinang 11800, Malaysia
Pau Chung Leng: Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81310, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-23

Abstract: A few studies on outdoor human thermal comfort (HTC) have been conducted in the tropical region in a hot and humid climate; however, there is a paucity of discussions on how exactly different spatial settings influence HTC. Thus, this paper aims to examine how land use land cover (LULC) affects HTC on the basis of the simulation of Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) indices via ENVI-met and Rayman. The results reveal that people living in the urban area have a higher tendency to experience strong heat stress (25% of the areas with PMV ranging from 3.4 to 3.9 and 2% of the areas, where PMV reached 4.1), followed by the rural area (43% of the areas with PMV ranging from 2.1 to 2.4), and the suburban area (more than 50% of the areas with PMV values less than 2.4). Surprisingly, a concrete LULC in the suburb area exhibits a higher air temperature than an asphalt surface at 4 p.m., due to the large area of high albedo that increases the reflection of solar radiation, subsequently contributing to warming up the airmass. Similarly, sandy, and loamy LULC tend to emit more heat during nighttime, while the heat is absorbed slowly during daytime, and it is then slowly released during nighttime after 6 p.m. Spatial settings that promote heat stress in the urban area are mainly contributed by an LULC of asphalt, concrete, sandy, and loamy areas. Meanwhile, people in the suburban and rural areas are less likely to experience heat stress, due to agricultural plantations and lowland forest that provide shade, except for the barren lands-loamy areas. The result also indicates that tree-covered areas near the river in the suburban area afforded the best thermal experience with PMV of 2.1 and PET of 30.7. From the LULC comparison, it is pivotal to consider tree species (canopy density), surface material (albedo), sky-view factor, wind direction, and speed toward designing a more comfortable and sustainable environment.

Keywords: outdoor thermal comfort; ENVI-met; LULC; microclimate simulation; tropical climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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