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

Paulina P. Y. WONG*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Article number8741049
Number of pages8
JournalAdvances in Meteorology
Volume2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jan 2020

Bibliographical note

The author would like to thank the following government departments for granting permissions to install sensors on street signs for continuous roadside measurement: Department of Transport, Highways Department, and Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong SAR. Thanks are also extended to Dr. Melissa Hart (Research Director, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, The University of New South Wales) and Prof. PC Lai (Professor, Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong) for their research supervision and kind support.

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