Spatio-temporal promenades as representations of urban atmospheres

An atmosphere is the synthesis for an individual at a given moment of the multiple thermal, visual, acoustical and olfactory perceptions suggested by a physical environment. An urban atmosphere therefore depends on the physical qualities of the built environment and the movement of urbanites. Urban atmospheres can be represented in time and space through the concept of a promenade. The objective of this approach is to increase knowledge about perception of pedestrians in an urban environment and their representation. Recently, urban atmospheres represented dynamically through the field of view of pedestrians may assist in the discussion of the built environment parameters relevant to city planners, building professionals and citizens. This paper presents the visual and thermal environmental parameters gathered at specific points of an urban promenade. Results are graphically presented according to their temporality and spatiality. The innovative aspect of the research stems from its spatio-temporal representations of visual and non-visual (thermal) physical qualities of urban spaces through photographs and their quantitative value to better investigate urban microclimates at the pedestrian and physical surface scales.