Thermal comfort and urban canyons morphology in coastal temperate climate, Concepción, Chile

This paper aims to bridge the gap between urban climatology and urban design in coastal temperate climate cities of developing countries. This research studies the thermal comfort in urban canyons located in the city of Concepción, Chile, using a multidisciplinary approach that combines morphological, climatic and perceptual factors. First, the urban morphology indicators are constructed, such as the sky view factor and the shadow factor of buildings. Second, to determine the environmental thermal comfort, the Actual Sensation Vote (ASV) method is used by conducting measurements in 27 control points in 9 urban canyons. Third, 301 surveys were conducted to pedestrians in urban canyons during January 2014. All the data is processed and correlated to determine how the urban canyons morphology modifies the dominant climate in terms of physical and perceived thermal comfort. The results show that the diagonal canyon has one of the best indicators of environmental and perceived thermal comfort. On the other hand, the semi-covered canyon with high pedestrian affluence has the worst comfort values. Overall, the metropolitan center of Concepción is more comfortable than uncomfortable in the summer season.