A case-based methodology for investigating urban comfort through interpretive research and microclimate analysis in post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand

Silvia G Tavares; Simon R Swaffield; Emma J Stewart

doi:10.1177/2399808317725318

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A case-based methodology for investigating urban comfort through interpretive research and microclimate analysis in post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand

Journal article

Peer reviewed

A case-based methodology for investigating urban comfort through interpretive research and microclimate analysis in post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand

Silvia G Tavares, Simon R Swaffield and Emma J Stewart

Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, Vol.46(4), pp.731-750

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808317725318

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Abstract

Urban and Regional Planning

Architecture

interpretive research

microclimate

urban comfort

earthquakes

New Zealand

This paper explores how an interpretive case-based research strategy can reveal new empirical and theoretical insights into microclimate design. Innovative fieldwork in Christchurch, New Zealand investigated the nature and social meanings of urban comfort in a city with a seasonal climate featuring microclimatic variability, and with a physical landscape undergoing rapid change following a series of major earthquakes. Ethnographic methods were combined with microclimate measurements in four Christchurch-based case study locations to identify ways in which people adjust their cultural and lifestyle values and expectations to the actual microclimatic conditions. The field investigation had to capture data relevant to the microclimatic variability and be suitable for rapidly changing urban settings. Results suggest this integrative methodology successfully adapts to challenging physical contexts, and is able to provide a coherent body of evidence. Important insights revealed through this methodology may not have become apparent if only conventional microclimate methods were used.

Details

Title: A case-based methodology for investigating urban comfort through interpretive research and microclimate analysis in post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand
Authors: Silvia G Tavares (Author) - James Cook University
Simon R Swaffield (Author) - Lincoln University, New Zealand
Emma J Stewart (Author) - Lincoln University, New Zealand
Publication details: Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, Vol.46(4), pp.731-750
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.
Date published: 2019
DOI: 10.1177/2399808317725318
ISSN: 2399-8083; 2399-8091
Organisation Unit: Bioclimatic and Sociotechnical Cities Lab; Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450838202621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Environmental Studies; Geography; Regional & Urban Planning; Urban Studies

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