Thermal comfort in outdoor urban spaces: Understanding the human parameter

The research being undertaken seeks to achieve a better understanding of th e richness of microclimatic characteristics in outdoor urban spaces, and th e comfort implications for the people using them. The underlying hypothesis is that these conditions influence people's behaviour and usage of outdoor spaces. The initial results demonstrate that a purely physiological approa ch is inadequate in characterising comfort conditions outdoors, and an unde rstanding of the dynamic human parameter is necessary in designing spaces f or public use. The thermal environment is indeed of prime importance influe ncing people's use of these spaces, but psychological adaptation (available choice, environmental stimulation, thermal history, memory effect, expecta tions) is also of great importance in such spaces that present few constrai nts. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.