interpretive methods for urban comfort and microclimate research
DESCRIPTION
Paper presented by Simon Swaffield (co-author) at the CELA 2014 (Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Annual Meeting). Baltimore, MD, USA. March 2014.TRANSCRIPT
Interpretive methods for urban microclimate research
An interpretive and integrating methodology for investigating urban comfort in a city undergoing post-
disaster transitions
Silvia G Tavares, Simon R Swaffield, Emma J StewartMarch 2014
QUESTION
Photo by Flickr user: Christopher Chan
How can we better understand the role of microclimate in shaping how people live in rapidly changing urban
environments?
CONTEXTClimate Change in an Urban World
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Manhattan, NY, USA Photo by Flickr user: Christopher Chan
Photo by Flickr user: Fernando Stankuns
CONTEXTChristchurch – a post disaster city
Fieldwork
2:15pm: The sun is now gone, the wind increased and the temperature dropped. Today was a typical ‘four seasons in a day’. People who were using the public benches disappeared, people eating were doing it quickly. The environment looks very different from the warm and sunny morning.” (Field journal, 18 July 2012)
CONTEXTChristchurch – 4 seasons in one day
“We get all weather in one day (…). Even if they say it’s gonna
be sunny, it’s usually windy and cold, or it rains for a bit and
then the sun comes out.” (E60)
What theory and methods are both robust and flexible enough to enable to field investigation into social activity in a
constantly changing urban landscape?
CHALLENGE
WORKCURRENT RESEARCH
Microclimate theory and methods
Urban
microclimate
Thermal Comfort
INDIVIDUAL
Scienceand Urban
Microclimate
Quantitative, quasi-experimental
WORKCURRENTRESEARCH
Urban Theory and methods Comfort
Qualitative, descriptive, prescriptive
Urban life
Cultural Geography, Cultural Anthropology and Urban Studies
Regional identity
COLLECTIVE
Objective
RESEARCHFOCUS
Urban Comfort as a collective achievement
Urban life
Cultural Geography, Cultural Anthropology and Urban Studies
Regional identity
COLLECTIVE
Urban
microclimate
Thermal Comfort
INDIVIDUAL
Scienceand Urban
Microclimate
URBAN COMFORT
Interpretive, integrative, adaptive
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What is urban comfort for Christchurch people?
How does the design of urban landscape shape urban comfort in Christchurch?
METHODOLOGYInterpretive case study settings
Urban Retreat SpaceUrban Social Space
Esta
blis
hed
Setti
ngEm
ergi
ng S
etting
• Field work: October 2011 – April 2013• Multi-method, multi-site approach
METHODSParticipant Observation
METHODSMETHODSIn-Depth Interviews
86 in-depth interviews
METHODSMicroclimate Measurements
METHODSInterventions
“It’s cold, it’s a bit chilli to be comfortable, but they’ve got these kind of rugs which is cute, so it’s alright (…). If I was a little bit more unintimidated I’d just put it around and wear it probably, but is just it discreetly covering my knees.” (E51)
FIELDWORKFINDINGSFINDINGS
“Even though I don’t go up there [to the hills] as regularly as I used to, that’s still part of my life. The ‘being there’ is part of my landscape.” (E46)
Christchurch has a strong
outdoor culture which
encourages people to be outside in all
weathers
Regional culture shapes urban comfort
FIELDWORKFINDINGSFINDINGS
Social and Retreat spaces generate different adaptive practices
“To me as a Christchurch person, quality of life does include those things of having a bit of space, have a bit of peace and quiet when you want it (…)” (E79)
“There’s always the easterly winds that always
has a bit of ‘bite’ to it. So that’s why you always
need a jacket even in days like today.” (E69)
CONCLUSIONCONCLUSIONTHEORETICAL CONCLUSION
Urban comfort is a collective social achievement shaped by regional culture
Source: The Press
CONCLUSIONCONCLUSIONMETHODOLOGICALCONCLUSION
Urban design in face of instability requires robust, flexible research
24 May 2012 3 November 2012 14 November 2012
25 September 2012 31 January 2013 2 September 2013
Moving beyond conventional
techniques into qualitative
social science integrated
diverse data and revealed rich insights, but numbers
still count
CONCLUSIONCONCLUSIONMETHODOLOGICALCONCLUSION
Urban design in face of instability requires robust, flexible research
Source: Stuff.co.nz
