Designing thermally sensitive public spaces: an analysis through urban design media

ABSTRACT

Urban designers face the challenge of preserving urban life by creating public spaces that are resilient to rising temperatures. This paper studies the dissemination of urban designs specific to summer (‘urban coolspots’) throughout urban design media. First, the study of an inventory of urban coolspots (182 references) delineates their urban context, the main actors and principal cooling techniques. Second, a typological analysis of the projects’ spatio-climatic set-ups highlights four trends as presented in the media. Finally, this article discusses the contributions of the media to an emerging urban design field and establishing an aesthetic of freshness in public space.

KEYWORDS:

• public space design
• urban coolspots
• microclimate
• thermal comfort
• adaptation strategies

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Sophie Provost and Margret Vince for proofreading the paper; and Romane Petesque for preliminary research work developed during her internship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR – French National Research Agency) [grant reference number ANR-18-CE22-0003 (COOLSCAPES project)].