Assessment of Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Urban Public Space, during the Hottest Period in Annaba City, Algeria

Abstract

In this study; the outdoor thermal comfort of the users of two urban plazas with different morphologies in Annaba city, Algeria, have been evaluated. First, field measurements of the microclimatic parameters took place; namely the air temperature and the relative humidity in the two urban plazas, during hot days. Then, these measurements were compared with the results of the numerical simulations carried out by ENVI-met software in order to validate the model. The outdoor thermal comfort was evaluated by microclimatic measurements as well as a questionnaire survey consisting of interviews during the measurement days. The main objective was to determine the neutral Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and to examine the influence of urban microclimatic conditions on the subjective thermal perception of people, as well as to compare it with different indexes of thermal comfort. Hence, the aim was to compare the microclimatic parameters of the two plazas, with and without vegetation and to see their impact on the thermal comfort indices. The results show that there is a difference between the two morphologies. Moreover, vegetation and urban morphology influence the neutral values of the thermal comfort indices.