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Urban comfort and adaptive capacity an exploratory study of urban life and climate responses in Aachen Germany6.48 MB
Published VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Urban comfort and adaptive capacity: an exploratory study of urban life and climate responses in Aachen, Germany
Cities & Health, Vol.8(4), pp.666-683
2024
Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs
Abstract
In outdoor spaces, people can adapt to urban microclimates even if they are outside comfortable standards. This adaptation needs to be triggered by external motivators – enjoying the city, seeing people, meeting friends, and so forth – and these motivators are culture and place dependent. Relationships between socio-cultural values and adaptation to urban microclimate can inform design to promote adaptive capacity, enhance liveability, and improve climate change adaptation. We use the urban comfort concept, which considers human comfort in open spaces as a result of regional identity and local culture; lifestyle, liveability, and urbanity; and adaptation to microclimate. This study adds to the body of emerging case studies by exploring the local meaning of urban comfort in Aachen (Germany), a multi-cultural city. A mixed-method interpretive research design enhances the understanding of meaning and context. Results suggest that urban comfort is associated with (1) regional identity related to local physical and social landscapes; (2) urban lifestyles, liveability and urbanity concepts associated with compact urban living, public green areas, building design and diversity; (3) adaptive strategies associated with mobility, clothing, and company. We argue that the role these preferences play in place-based adaptation is fundamental for urban sustainability and climate change.
Details
- Title
- Urban comfort and adaptive capacity: an exploratory study of urban life and climate responses in Aachen, Germany
- Authors
- Silvia Tavares (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Bioclimatic and Sociotechnical Cities LabAndreas Wesener - Lincoln UniversityRunrid Fox-Kämper (Author) - ILS – Research Institute for Regional and Urban DevelopmentLisandra Krebs - Universidade Federal de Pelotas
- Publication details
- Cities & Health, Vol.8(4), pp.666-683
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis Inc.
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1080/23748834.2024.2331896
- ISSN
- 2374-8842; 2374-8834
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Organisation Unit
- Bioclimatic and Sociotechnical Cities Lab; Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991020698102621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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