Evaluation of design schemes for urban squares in arid climate cities, Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract

The design of urban squares in the city of Mendoza, Argentina, is based on aesthetic and landscaping criteria without consider strategies to enhance the benefits that green areas generate on the city’s micrometeorological conditions. The paper aims to evaluate different design alternatives with the purpose to determine which proportion and distribution of green and sealed areas contributes to achieve the best conditions in terms of thermal behavior and comfort. ENVI-met software was used to simulate thermal conditions over twenty three scenarios, and COMFA method was employed to determine comfort in the scenarios that show the best thermal behaviour and are representative of current design trends. The results show that the most effective scheme for the memorial squares rehabilitation is the one concentrating 60% of woodlot around a sealed center with an area that does not exceed 20% the square surface. Another effective alternative is the one concentrating 60% of woodlot at the center of the area. These findings highlight the importance of an adequate relation between proportion and distribution of woodlot/sealed areas to improve thermal performance and comfort conditions of open spaces.