Pedestrian thermal comfort mapping for evidence-based urban planning; an interdisciplinary and user-friendly mobile approach for the case study of Dresden, Germany.

Abstract

In the face of climate change and increasing urbanisation, ensuring outdoor thermal comfort is becoming an increasingly crucial consideration for sustainable urban planning. However, informed decision-making is limited by the challenge of obtaining high-resolution thermal comfort data. This study introduces an interdisciplinary, low-resource, and user-friendly methodology for thermal comfort mapping, employing a self-built low-cost meteorological device for mobile climate monitoring. This device was utilised in the city center of Dresden, Germany to collect air temperature, humidity, pressure, surface temperature, global radiation, and globe temperature data as key inputs for the calculation of thermal comfort indices. These measurements were then used to calculate the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) using the RayMan Pro urban climate modelling program. Due to the limited resource capacities of urban planning departments, clear priority areas must be identified. Therefore, an exemplary approach for the prioritisation of consistent hotspots using the highest 5% of UTCI values was developed. The spatial variances in UTCI were validated through mobile pedestrian thermal comfort questionnaires, which allowed for the comparison of objective and subjective estimates of thermal comfort and gave the basis on which to make holistic and practical suggestions for urban planning interventions. This paper demonstrates an accessible and interdisciplinary approach to thermal comfort mapping which can empower urban planning stakeholders with scientifically informed and cost-effective decision-making tools for climate-adapted urban development.