A Microclimate Study of Traffic and Pedestrianization Scenarios in a Densely Populated Urban City

Urban streets are known to have a significant role in creating urban microclimates. This study aims to empirically quantify temporal and spatial microclimate variation within the same street configurations with pedestrian schemes. To evaluate the urban microclimates at the pedestrian level, a detailed monitoring project was performed at five representative locations near intersections, within a busy street canyon of the typical urban community in a densely populated urban city. Monitoring was done for warm and cool seasons. A strong, significant correlation (p<0.01) was found under multiple time scenarios (traffic, nontraffic, and as a whole) and for both seasons. These findings suggest that the average urban daily temperature was not significantly reduced when there was no vehicular traffic present, whereas pedestrian activity contributed to urban heat regardless of the season. These findings provide an essential foundation for further studies on urban microclimates within pedestrianized areas and will likely lead to better urban design and policy management, especially concerning thermal comfort and Quality of Life at the pedestrian level.

Urban Sound Planning

In this chapter, examples of the application of urbanism approaches are described not only to reduce unwanted noise but also to improve the quality of the sonic environment. By considering different architectonic elements existent in the urban environment, it is possible to highly reduce traffic noise levels. The shape of the buildings, the street configurations, or the urban furniture are effective for urban sound-friendly architecture. Additionally, it has been proven that human perception is multisensorial; thus, the visual elements are also influential to the perception of urban sound environments. The way visual elements can support the sonic coherence of a space and its relation to the urban functionality is discussed. Finally, Virtual Reality Technology is proposed as a tool for the design and appraisal of future urban development where both visual and audio can be simultaneously assessed. The implementation within a smart city is also considered.