A comparison of outdoor thermal comfort in historical and contemporary urban fabrics of Lar City

Abstract

Abstract Comparative study of contemporary and historical urban fabrics will help urban designers to obtain strategies for climatic compatible design of cities. One of the main factors for evaluating thermal conditions in urban fabrics is measuring thermal comfort of inhabitants in public outdoor spaces. In this regard a neighborhood from the historical district of Lar city, using aerial photos of 1956 (before the devastations by the earthquake) is simulated and compared with another one in the new city of Lar. In this research, ENVI-met software is used to simulate both the historical and the new city districts. To validate the simulated models, meteorological data in the neighborhood (air temperature and relative humidity) were measured for a whole week; from 11th to 16th December of 2016, from 9\u202fam to 15\u202fpm, in new Lar city. For evaluating thermal conditions of these areas PET index is used. The results were compared considering urban geometry and green cover. It is observed that the inhabitants are less satisfied with thermal conditions in the historical urban fabric, which is the result of negligence to the urban public arena in this part of the city and a shortage of green cover in public passageways there.