الفهرس Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The users{u2019} thermal perception of urban outdoor areas and their use of it is greatly affected by the thermal environment. Therefore, the microclimate conditions significantly influence and enhance the quality of living within the cities; by encouraging the people to spend more time in different activities outdoors, also working on improving the health and wellbeing of the citizens. To design better urban environments it is necessary to measure and analyze outdoor thermal comfort in various climatic conditions, not only in warm but also in temperate and cold climates. Walkability can improve public health by encouraging daily physical activity associated with different modes of transportation The quantification of outdoor thermal comfort is a relatively new area of inquiry. This research studies the thermal comfort and walking comfort to improve the microclimate at the street canyons, which affect the urban structure of hot-dry arid Cairo. The simulation study is carried out by using the three-dimensional numerical model ENVImet 4.0, which simulates the microclimatic changes within urban environments in a high spatial and temporal resolution. Model calculations are run for typical spring, summer, autumn and winter conditions in Cairo, Egypt (32.40{u00B0} N, 3.80{u00B0} E), which is characterized by a hot and dry climate. The main method applied in the research is to quantify and compare the thermal comfort effects of canyon geometry. The results show that outdoor thermal comfort can be improved by means of appropriate urban design since street orientation, aspect ratio (H/W) and vegetation were all found to affect human thermal comfort in outdoor urban spaces. The study was conducted by means of the three dimensional model ENVI-met. Thermal comfort is analyzed by means of the physiologically equivalent temperature PET. Consequently, this study intends to evaluate the diurnal thermal comfort at pedestrian level in order to provide design consideration regarding outdoor thermal comfort. The work also highlights the need of more on-site fieldwork in order to reinforce a practice-oriented knowledge about comfort in urban areas