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Paper presented at the CELA 2013 (Conference of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture) in Austin, Texas, US.
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THE SOCIO-CULTURAL MEANING OF URBAN COMFORT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Silvia Tavares :: Simon Swaffield :: Emma Stewart
Faculty of Environment, Society and Design – ESDSchool of Landscape Architecture – SoLA
Where are we?
Source: Google Maps
Where are we?
Source: Google Maps
Christchurch
Source: Christchurch City Council Recovery Plan (Crown Copyright)
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“Our tectonically perturbed landscape” (Mark Quigley)
7.1 September 2010 6.3 February 2011 6.3 June 2011 6.0 December 2011; and also 40 earthquakes of 5.0 + 500 earthquakes of 4.0 + 4000 earthquakes of 3.0 +
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Earthquakes impact
Source: Christchurch City Council Recovery Plan (Crown Copyright)
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Christchurch Central Recovery Plan
What is urban comfort for Christchurch people?
How can the design of urban landscape help to improve urban comfort in Christchurch?
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Research question
Source: Christchurch City Council Recovery Plan (Crown Copyright)
Cultural achievement X human physiological attribute
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Thermal Comfort
Physiology
Individual
URBAN COMFOR
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Landscapes + microclimate
Culture
Environment
PeopleIndividual + social preferences
Lifestyle + adaption
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Summer daytime maximum temperatures: 18°C - 26°C (64°F - 79°F),
Winters daytime maximum temperatures: 7°C - 14°C (44°F - 57°F);
Average relative humidity: 57% (January) - 88% (July).
Climate
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Central City redzone
Source: Google Maps
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Rotherham Street
Source: Google Maps
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Windmill Centre
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Cashel Mall
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South Colombo Street
Urban Social Space Urban Retreat Space
Establishe
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(Pre - EQ)
Rotherham Street Windmill Centre
Emerging Settings
(Post – EQ)
Cashel Mall South Colombo Street
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Data collection
Field work: October 2011 - December 2012
Participant observation 60 in-depth interviews Microclimate data collection
Three main themes:
1. Microclimate preferences2. Regional outdoor culture3. Adaption to local climate
That is always the problem. You find the day quite hot, but then you drive all the way out there, but it is so windy. (059)
I would say it’s probably the wind that is more annoying, because if you can step
[out] the wind and be in the sun, it usually... You feel ok; you can trap the
wind out. (044)
I don’t think it ever gets too cold in Christchurch that you can’t go out and
do something. New Zealanders are a sort of tough people, we don’t let things get on our road, so we would just put a few
more layers on and go out and do it. So I don’t think here the climate would
affect me doing something. (026)
Microclimate preferences
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I’ve got a boat, like fishing and hunting, tramping, I like mountain biking. I used to,
but I don’t have time for camping these days (…). I’ve got a property in Harewood
which is a five acre block (…) Well, I used to get out a lot, used to go hunting every
weekend or every second weekend I’d be out in the mountains. (022)
I think it is understandable when you look at the lights in China (…). But people in
this country buy their quarter acre section for a reason, because they have grown up with that, and that is in their
blood (…) In this terrible financial times, there is so many people doing their own
little vegetable garden, if that is gone, then what else? (044)
Regional outdoor culture
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I think there is an argument that I have particularly with my son that lives in
Australia, in Brisbane, where it is very hot. And (…) my opinion is that you can
dress for the cold, you can put more clothes on. It is much harder to be
outdoors in the heat, over 30°C the heat is just beyond me, I can’t cope. (040)
If there wasn’t many people [in the city], maybe I wouldn’t have come.
The perception of having people there makes me feel not as bad
[about] the weather. But depends on what you are doing, so you might
want to go somewhere to have more solitude. (043)
Adaption to local climate
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Physiology ≠ adaption Regional culture + urban qualities Adaption Age, activity and lifestyle of people Adaption and preferences
Design implications Identification of urban
landscape design solutions that best respond to the characteristics of local culture and climate (in Christchurch wind and sun)
Main outcomes
Theoretical implications Urban comfort, depends on
adaptive strategies Social life influences climate
perception and adaption
PeopleEnvironment
Culture
Urban comfort
Retreat Social
Faculty of Environment, Society and Design – ESAD
School of Landscape Architecture – SoLA
Thank youKia Ora
Obrigada
Silvia Garcia [email protected]
Simon [email protected]
Emma [email protected]
