Street greenery and its physical and psychological impact on thermal comfort

• 10% tree cover in a street lowers mean radiant temperature about 1 K.
• People significantly appreciate street greenery in esthetic terms.
• People are consciously aware of microclimate conditions within street canyons.
• We recommend to use ample street greenery and large tree cover in street design.

This study focuses on the benefits of street greenery for creating thermally comfortable streetscapes in moderate climates. It reports on investigations on the impact of street greenery on outdoor thermal comfort from a physical and psychological perspective. For this purpose, we examined nine streets with comparable geometric configurations, but varying amount of street greenery (street trees, front gardens) in the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Mobile micrometeorological measurements including air temperature (Ta), solar and thermal radiation were performed, enabling the calculation of mean radiant temperature (Tmrt). Additionally, semi-structured interviews with pedestrians about their momentary and long-term perceived thermal comfort and their esthetical appreciation of the green street design were conducted. Measurements showed a clear impact (p = 0.0001) of street greenery on thermal comfort through tree shading: 10% tree crown cover within a street canyon lowered street averaged Tmrt about 1 K. In contrast, our results did not show an influence of street greenery on street averaged Ta. Interview results indicated that momentary perceived thermal comfort tended to be related to the amount of street greenery. However, the results were not statistically significant. Related to long-term perceived thermal comfort respondents were hardly consciously aware of influences by street greenery. Yet, people significantly (p < 0.001) valued the presence of street greenery in esthetic terms. In conclusion, street greenery forms a convenient adaptive strategy to create thermally comfortable and attractive living environments. Our results clearly indicate that both physical and psychological aspects of thermal comfort have to be considered in urban design processes.