Abstract
Climate regional characteristics, urban environmental conditions, and outdoors thermal comfort requirements of residents are important for urban planning. Basic studies of urban microclimate can provide information and useful resources to predict and improve thermal conditions in hot-humid climatic regions. The paper analyzes the thermal bioclimate and its influence as urban design factor in Cuba, using Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET). Simulations of wind speed variations and shade conditions were performed to quantify changes in thermal bioclimate due to possible modifications in urban morphology. Climate data from Havana, Camagüey, and Santiago of Cuba for the period 2001 to 2012 were used to calculate PET with the RayMan model. The results show that changes in meteorological parameters influence the urban microclimate, and consequently modify the thermal conditions in outdoors spaces. Shade is the predominant strategy to improve urban microclimate with more significant benefits in terms of PET higher than 30 °C. For climatic regions such as the analyzed ones, human thermal comfort can be improved by a wind speed modification for thresholds of PET above 30 °C, and by a wind speed decreases in conditions below 26 °C. The improvement of human thermal conditions is crucial for urban sustainability. On this regards, our study is a contribution for urban designers, due to the possibility of taking advantage of results for improving microclimatic conditions based on urban forms. The results may enable urban planners to create spaces that people prefer to visit, and also are usable in the reconfiguration of cities.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abreu L, Labaki L (2011) Trees and heat fluxes: how much do they contribute to the energy balance at urban spaces? In: PLEA 2011 - Architecture and Sustainable Development, Conference Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, pp. 245–250
Abreu L, Labaki L, Matzarakis A (2014a) Thermal bioclimate as a factor in urban and architectural planning in tropical climates—the case of Campinas, Brazil. Urban Ecosyst 17:489–500. doi:10.1007/s11252-013-0339-7
Abreu L, Labaki L, Matzarakis A (2014b) Thermal bioclimate in idealized urban street canyons in Campinas, Brazil. Theor Appl Climatol 115:333–340. doi:10.1007/s00704-013-0886-0
Alcoforado M, Matzarakis A (2010) Planning with urban climate in different climatic zones. Geographicalia 5–39
Ali-Toudert F, Mayer H (2007) Effects of asymmetry, galleries, overhanging façades and vegetation on thermal comfort in urban street canyons. Sol Energy 81:742–754. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2006.10.007
Błażejczyk K, Jendritzky G, Bröde P, et al. (2013) An introduction to the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). Geogr Pol 86:5–10. doi:10.7163/GPol.2013.1
Bourbia F, Boucheriba F (2010) Impact of street design on urban microclimate for semi arid climate (Constantine). Renew Energy 35:343–347. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2009.07.017
Chaos M (2004) Language of powers in the physical structure of Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe. Centuries XVI to XVIII (Doctoral thesis). Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla,Spain
Chen L, Ng E (2012) Outdoor thermal comfort and outdoor activities: a review of research in the past decade. Cities 29:118–125. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2011.08.006
Cohen P, Potchter O, Matzarakis A (2013) Human thermal perception of coastal Mediterranean outdoor urban environments. Appl Geogr 37:1–10. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.11.001
Coutts AM, White EC, Tapper NJ, et al. (2015) Temperature and human thermal comfort effects of street trees across three contrasting street canyon environments. Theor Appl Climatol. doi:10.1007/s00704-015-1409-y
De la Paz Pérez G (2012) Brise-soleil, architectural resource of solar control. Evolution and Design proposal Optimized for Camagüey Archit Urban XXXIII:79–94.
Deb C, Ramachandraiah A (2010) The significance of Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) in outdoor thermal comfort studies. Int J Eng Sci Technol 2:2825–2828
Edussuriya P, Chan A, Ye A (2011) Urban morphology and air quality in dense residential environments in Hong Kong. Part I: district-level analysis. Atmos Environ 45:4789–4803. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.07.061
Emmanuel R, Johansson E (2006) Influence of urban morphology and sea breeze on hot humid microclimate: the case of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Clim Res 30:189–200
Emmanuel R, Rosenlund H, Johansson E (2007) Urban shading—a design option for the tropics? A study in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Int J Climatol 27:1995–2004. doi:10.1002/joc.1609
Fernández R, Salmerón P, Sanz N (2011) The historic urban landscape in the world heritage cities: indicators for conservation and management. II, Criteria, methodology and studies. Ministry of Culture of Andalusia, Sevilla
Fröhlich D, Matzarakis A (2013) Modeling of changes in thermal bioclimate: examples based on urban spaces in Freiburg, Germany. Theor Appl Climatol 111:547–558. doi:10.1007/s00704-012-0678-y
Givoni B (1989) Urban design in different climates. World Meteorological Organization
Givoni B (1992) Climatic aspects of urban design in tropical regions. Atmos Environ Part B Urban Atmos 26:397–406
Givoni B (1994) Urban design for hot humid regions. Renew Energy 5:1047–1053. doi:10.1016/0960-1481(94)90132-5
Hang J, Sandberg M, Li Y, Claesson L (2009) Pollutant dispersion in idealized city models with different urban morphologies. Atmos Environ 43:6011–6025. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.08.029
He X, Miao S, Shen S, et al. (2014) Influence of sky view factor on outdoor thermal environment and physiological equivalent temperature. Int J Biometeorol 285–297. doi:10.1007/s00484-014-0841-5
Herrmann J, Matzarakis A (2012) Mean radiant temperature in idealised urban canyons—examples from Freiburg, Germany. Int J Biometeorol 56:199–203. doi:10.1007/s00484-010-0394-1
Hien N, Kardinal S, Imam N, et al. (2011) Evaluation of the impact of the surrounding urban morphology on building energy consumption. Sol Energy 85:57–71. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2010.11.002
Honjo T (2009) Thermal comfort in outdoor environment. Glob Enviroment Res 43–47
Höppe P (1993) Heat balance modelling. Experientia 49:741–746. doi:10.1007/BF01923542
Höppe P (1999) The physiological equivalent temperature in an universal index for the biometeorological assessment of the thermal environment. Int J Biometeorol 43:71–75. doi:10.1007/s004840050118
Johansson E, Emmanuel R (2006) The influence of urban design on outdoor thermal comfort in the hot, humid city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Int J Biometeorol 51:119–133. doi:10.1007/s00484-006-0047-6
Ketterer C, Matzarakis A (2014) Human-biometeorological assessment of heat stress reduction by replanning measures in Stuttgart, Germany. Landsc Urban Plan 122:78–88. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2013.11.003
Kottek M, Grieser J, Beck C, et al. (2006) World map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorol Zeitschrift 15:259–263. doi:10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0130
Krüger E, Minella F, Rasia F (2011) Impact of urban geometry on outdoor thermal comfort and air quality from field measurements in Curitiba, Brazil. Build Environ 46:621–634. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2010.09.006
Kuttler W (2000) Stadtklima. In: Handbuch der Umweltveränderungen und Ökotoxologie, Band 1B: Atmosphäre. Springer-Verlag, pp 420–470
Lin TP (2009) Thermal perception, adaptation and attendance in a public square in hot and humid regions. Build Environ 44:2017–2026. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2009.02.004
Lin TP, Matzarakis A (2008) Tourism climate and thermal comfort in Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan. Int J Biometeorol 52:281–290. doi:10.1007/s00484-007-0122-7
Lin TP, Matzarakis A (2011) Tourism climate information based on human thermal perception in Taiwan and Eastern China. Tour Manag 32:492–500. doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2010.03.017
Lin TP, Matzarakis A, Hwang R, et al. (2010) Shading effect on long-term outdoor thermal comfort. Build Environ 45:213–221. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2009.06.002
Lin TP, Tsai K, Hwang R, Matzarakis A (2012) Quantification of the effect of thermal indices and sky view factor on park attendance. Landsc Urban Plan 107:137–146. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.05.011
Makaremi N, Jaffar Z, Salleh E, Matzarakis A (2012) Study on outdoor thermal comfort in hot and humid context. International Conference on Urban Climates. Dublin Ireland, In, pp. 8–11
Matzarakis A (2014) Transfer of climate data for tourism applications—the climate-tourism/transfer-information-scheme. Sustain Environ Res 24:273–280
Matzarakis A, Endler C (2010) Climate change and thermal bioclimate in cities: impacts and options for adaptation in Freiburg, Germany. Int J Biometeorol 54:479–483. doi:10.1007/s00484-009-0296-2
Matzarakis A, Mayer H (1996) Another kind of environmental stress: thermal stress. WHO NEWSLETTERS No 18:7–10
Matzarakis A, Mayer H (1999) Applications of a universal thermal index: physiological equivalent temperature. Int J Biometeorol 43:76–84
Matzarakis A, Najjar G, De Rocco M (2009) Thermal bioclimate in strasbourg—the 2003 heat wave. Theor Appl Climatol 98:209–220. doi:10.1007/s00704-009-0102-4
Matzarakis A, Rutz F, Mayer H (2007) Modelling radiation fluxes in simple and complex environments—application of the RayMan model. Int J Biometeorol 51:323–334. doi:10.1007/s00484-006-0061-8
Matzarakis A, Rutz F, Mayer H (2010) Modelling radiation fluxes in simple and complex environments: basics of the RayMan model. Int J Biometeorol 54:131–139. doi:10.1007/s00484-009-0261-0
Mayer H, Höppe P (1987) Thermal comfort of man in different urban environments. Theor Appl Climatol 38:43–49
Mertens E (1999) Bioclimate and city planning—open space planning. Atmos Environ 33:4115–4123. doi:10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00153-3
Ndetto EL, Matzarakis A (2013a) Basic analysis of climate and urban bioclimate of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Theor Appl Climatol 114:213–226. doi:10.1007/s00704-012-0828-2
Ndetto EL, Matzarakis A (2013b) Effects of urban configuration on human thermal conditions in a typical tropical African coastal city. Adv Meteorol. doi:10.1155/2013/549096
Oke TR (1973) City size and the urban heat island. Atmos Environ 7:769–779
Oke TR (1982) The energetic basis of the urban heat island. Q J R Meteorol Soc 108:1–24
Oke TR (1984) Methods in urban climatology. Appl Climatol 14:19–29
Pantavou K, Santamouris M, Asimakopoulos D, Theoharatos G (2014) Empirical calibration of thermal indices in an urban outdoor Mediterranean environment. Build Environ 80:283–292. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2014.06.001
Pérez A, Gómez F, Tornero J (2006) City and environmental comfort: state of the art and recent contributions. J Geog 147–182
Reis S (2014) Urban forests effect evaluation and vegetated areas in hygrothermal comfort. Universidade de São Paulo Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”
Roth M (2007) Review of urban climate research in (sub)tropical regions. Int J Climatol 1873:1859–1873. doi:10.1002/joc
Serra R, Coch H (1991) Architecture and natural energy. Barcelona
Spagnolo J, De Dear R (2003) A human thermal climatology of subtropical Sydney. Int J Climatol 23:1383–1395. doi:10.1002/joc.939
Tablada A, De Troyer F, Blocken B, et al. (2009) On natural ventilation and thermal comfort in compact urban environments—the Old Havana case. Build Environ 44:1943–1958. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2009.01.008
UNEI (2012) Statistical yearbook. Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información, La Habana
VDI (1998) Methods for the human biometeorological evaluation of climate and air quality for the urban and regional planning. Part I: Climate. VDI guildline 3787. Part 2. Berlin: Beuth.
Vitt R, Gulyás Á, Matzarakis A (2015) Temporal differences of urban-rural human biometeorological factors for planning and tourism in Szeged, Hungary. Adv Meteorol 2015:1–8. doi:10.1155/2015/987576
Zaninović K, Matzarakis A (2009) The bioclimatological leaflet as a means conveying climatological information to tourists and the tourism industry. Int J Biometeorol 53:369–374. doi:10.1007/s00484-009-0219-2
Zeng Y, Dong L (2015) Thermal human biometeorological conditions and subjective thermal sensation in pedestrian streets in Chengdu, China. Int J Biometeorol 59:99–108. doi:10.1007/s00484-014-0883-8
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and by the University of Camagüey-Cuba. We would like to thank Abel José Rodríguez Algeciras for providing proofreading of the paper. The authors are also grateful to the Department of Architectural Constructions, Superior Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona (ETSAB).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rodríguez Algeciras, J.A., Coch, H., De la Paz Pérez, G. et al. Human thermal comfort conditions and urban planning in hot-humid climates—The case of Cuba. Int J Biometeorol 60, 1151–1164 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-015-1109-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-015-1109-4