Morphology of pedestrian roads and thermal responses during summer, in the urban area of Bucheon city, Korea.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the effect of urban morphology representing sky view factor (SVF) on urban microclimate and on human thermal responses. The physical environments and the changes in body temperatures as well as psychological responses were investigated in summer in Bucheon, Korea. The dry bulb temperature ranged from 31.5°C at SVF 0.082 site to 35.7°C at SVF 0.922 site. Most of the environmental elements were statistically correlated to the SVF: the dry bulb temperature R (2) = 0.602, UVB R (2) = 0.556 and the illumination level R (2) = 0.609. The mean skin temperature increased up to 36.0°C at the SVF 0.940 site and decreased to 33.9°C at the SVF 0.082 site. The mean skin temperature was statistically correlated to the SVF (p = 0.005). However, the core body temperature was not correlated to SVF because of time delay effect to the previously exposed thermal environment. In the investigation of thermal acceptability, only 5% of subjects were dissatisfied with the road that was covered with plentiful trees; in contrast, approximately 50% of subjects were dissatisfied with the road with poor solar obstacles in the summer. The thermal stress was affected by the urban morphology, and the plentiful urban greening improved thermal comfort.