Multi-domain human-oriented approach to evaluate human comfort in outdoor environments

Area of Science:

• Human-biometeorology
• Environmental psychology
• Urban planning

Background:

• Outdoor human comfort studies often focus on single domains, limiting comprehensive analysis.
• Integrating environmental and social factors is crucial for understanding park user experience.
• Existing research lacks a holistic approach to evaluating multi-domain comfort in urban green spaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate human comfort in parks using a multi-domain (thermal, visual, acoustic, air quality) and multi-disciplinary (environmental and social) approach.
• To compare the predictive accuracy of environmental data versus subjective perceptions on overall comfort.
• To highlight the importance of integrated methodologies for urban environmental quality assessment.

Main Methods:

• Conducted paired walks in two Italian parks with differing designs over four days in June.
• Collected simultaneous environmental data using wearable devices and subjective perceptions via surveys.
• Employed logistic regression models to analyze the influence of environmental and qualitative data on comfort levels.

Main Results:

• Despite differing physical parameters between parks, survey responses showed similarities.
• Environmental data explained low variance in comfort (R² ≈ 0.12), while survey data explained high variance (R² ≈ 0.81).
• Interdependence between different comfort domains was observed in both parks.

Conclusions:

• A multi-disciplinary and multi-domain approach is essential for accurate outdoor comfort assessment.
• Qualitative human perceptions are more significant predictors of overall comfort than objective environmental measurements.
• Findings support the development of holistic models for improving urban liveability and environmental quality.