Landscape interventions in improving thermal comfort in the hot dry city of Damascus, Syria—The example of residential spaces with detached buildings

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore how vegetation and landscape elements affect the outdoor thermal comfort for detached buildings in hot dry Damascus, Syria by investigating different urban design scenarios. The study uses two different thermal indices and examines two different street orientations in summer and winter using microclimatic simulations with ENVI-met and analyzing the thermal comfort maps for the studied cases. In order to improve the thermal environment of detached urban morphologies in Damascus, the streets and the spaces between buildings must be taken into account in the urban and landscape design processes. Shading is an essential strategy to reduce thermal stress and by using vegetation and shading devices, it is even possible to achieve thermal comfort during the warmest hours in the summer which is the most problematic season in Damascus. The improvement of the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) between the existing and suggested urban design for the east-west street orientation at 14:00 is about 19°C. The study discusses advantages and disadvantages of different urban design patterns in Damascus and argues that an efficient use of vegetation and landscape elements positively affects the thermal environment and thus develops the quality of urban design. There is therefore a need for further investigation about the role of vegetation and landscape from a shading perspective taking the 3D form of trees and other landscape elements into account. This is recommended to be linked with urban planning regulations in the city.