Silvia Tavares

Record cases of skin cancer in Australia emphasizes the urgent need for greater Ultraviolet Radiation (UVR) protection, particularly in public spaces and where children spend time. This study analyses the shade provision of 10 parks in the Sunshine Coast (Australia). Methods used include participant observation, shade analysis and UVR measurements. Results highlighted disparities regarding shade effectiveness. Whilst all parks had some form of built shade, playgrounds with dense trees proved more effective in reducing UVR levels. The size, quality, age and shade cloths' placement also impact its protection capacity. Results indicate the need for greater shade-based regulations to guarantee UVR protection.

The economic burden of urban heat is already comparable to that of chronic health, with heat related productivity losses already amounting to almost $8 billion a year. To address this issue the use of cool materials and coatings can reduce surface temperatures and cool down our urban environments improving their urban climate. This preliminary study aimed to explore built environment professionals’ knowledge of available design and planning strategies conducive to urban cooling and, in particular, their perception of the use of cool materials and coatings in public open spaces. Semi-structured interviews were conducted (n=8) with architects, landscape architects and urban designers, facilitating discussion on the opportunities and barriers of urban cooling strategies. The results demonstrate a wide variation in awareness of available heat mitigation strategies, with a priority on the use of vegetation for shade, and the need for training programs leading into enabling the adoption of new technologies related to cool materials, both from manufacturers and end users. Establishing clear performance standards is essential, and policy and governance changes are also necessary to properly account for the benefits of cool materials and to standardize their application. Research outcomes also emphasise the need for careful consideration of related emergent issues when addressing heat in urban environments and translating architecture-based strategies into urban design. Findings intend to inform urban design and planning policy to achieve high performance climate-sensitive public open spaces.

Urban Heat Islands (UHI) pose significant challenges to cities, particularly in tropical climates. This study evaluates various UHI mitigation strategies applied to the Central Business District (CBD) of Townsville using ENVI-met v5.5.1. Air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), wind characteristics, Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT), and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) were assessed under various scenarios. Strategies investigated include increasing natural and artificial shading, altering pavement albedos, and adding green buildings. Results show that on average, Ta in the proposed scenarios were lower than the input data (up to 3.5 °C) except at 1 pm and 4 pm, due to the differences in the urban morphology between the two dataset locations. Adding buildings generated the worst results and negatively impacted night cooling. The other scenarios positively impacted Ta reduction on average (0 °C to 0.21 °C per hour). The built environment significantly altered wind patterns, and added buildings contributed to increased wind speed (up to 1 m/s during the hottest hours). The median MRT increased during the early hours surpassing the health stress threshold (57.1 °C) at 9am, condition which remained until 2 pm, decreasing afterwards. But importantly, an overestimation of MRT was observed due to the topographical characteristics of the site. This study reveals a misconception that the hottest hours are the most harmful to human well-being, as they may vary based on the local climate patterns. Results also demonstrate that while some strategies contribute to temperature reduction, challenges persist, especially during the hottest hours. This work advances UHI mitigation for tropical savanna climates, guiding sustainable urban planning.

Urban climate phenomena significantly affect the well-being of city populations. However, recent studies reveal limited awareness of urban climate among key stakeholders who shape climate adaptation efforts. Communication offers a promising means of addressing this gap and mobilising stakeholders towards effective adaptation. Yet, the effectiveness of communication in engaging these groups remains unclear. This study investigates how urban climate communication functions among key stakeholder groups: citizens, politicians, urban planners and designers, and urban climate experts, and examines its role in fostering awareness and driving action. This study employed a qualitative research design using key informant interviews with 92 experts across nine countries. The findings reveal a widespread need for improved communication, particularly stronger collaboration between urban climate experts and urban planners and designers. These groups hold essential knowledge and complementary expertise and should form closer partnerships with political decision-makers. Interviews revealed that two-thirds of urban planners and designers struggle to translate climate data into actionable strategies, citing inaccessible communication from experts. Two-thirds of respondents also identified a persistent disconnect between policymakers and citizens, resulting in fragmented adaptation efforts. The study underscores the importance of tailored, interactive communication strategies that account for diverse governance structures, socio-economic conditions, and development contexts across the countries examined. The findings highlight the urgency of strengthening urban climate communication to enable more inclusive, coordinated, and effective adaptation responses.

In this paper, we discuss the important role of landscape architecture and urban design in implementing urban heat mitigation strategies. We discuss how these professions relate to and are considered in studies focused on urban climate and outdoor thermal comfort. Strategies available through landscape architecture and urban design are closely associated with an improved urban thermal environment (Chu et al, 2024). Street orientation, building height and density, green cover ratio, building materials, and the shape and size of water bodies can mitigate urban heat by adjusting urban microclimate and reducing energy use (Abd Elraouf et al, 2022; Liu et al, 2022; Xu et al, 2019). In the context of climate change, it is therefore essential to properly design and plan the built environment for mitigating urban heat, and it is increasingly important to ensure effective communication between the science community and built environment professionals.

In response to the escalating challenges posed by climate change in subtropical urban areas, this work utilises the Research Through Design (RTD) methodology for promoting resilience and sustainability in urban environments. Based on urban microclimate modelling using advanced ENVI-met simulations, this work identified hot urban areas and informed the subsequent design process for improving urban climate outcomes. The study is focused on a local government area in South-East Queensland (Australia) and unfolds in three stages. The first stage involves evaluating the existing site’s thermal characteristics and communicating the results to professional consultants. Aligning with local council requirements and community engagement outcomes, consultants then use these insights as a foundation for drafting a new public open space and main street conceptual masterplan. In the second stage, the proposed masterplan undergoes urban climate analysis through ENVI-met simulation to assess the impact of the proposal on the resulting urban microclimate and the thermal comfort of public space users. The results from this stage guide subsequent iterative improvements, identifying areas for enhancement and further consideration. In the third and final stage, consultants incorporate these findings into a refined masterplan that aligns with council guidelines and community requirements while prioritising thermal comfort, resilience, and sustainability. This work contributes to evidence-based urban design and planning, emphasising the importance of integrating climate-responsive strategies into the early stages of the consultation, design, and urban planning processes. It demonstrates the benefits of a dynamic and iterative approach, where computer-based simulations guide each design stage, ensuring that the final urban design and planning outcome complies with regulatory frameworks and enhances the overall well-being of users of public spaces and surrounding urban environments. Using the RTD methodology, this work presents a solid and replicable framework for addressing climate challenges in various urban contexts.

The consequences of climate change will inevitably contribute to the pressures applied to urban spaces. Urban greenery plays a vital role in urban heat alleviation, providing multifaceted benefits for public spaces. With limited space available for urban greenery, it is crucial to understand how to arrange vegetation to maximize cooling benefits and minimize the extreme effects of climate change. This chapter presents the role of urban greenery in reducing urban heat, and the influence of spatial allocation of urban vegetation on heat reduction. The strategy for arranging urban greenery to alleviate heat stress is outlined. Based on the findings, this chapter also discusses potential research directions aimed at better protecting vulnerable groups experiencing the impacts of climate change in urban public areas.

Extreme heat is currently Australia’s deadliest natural hazard. The intensity of heat events is increasing due to climate change, and further exacerbated by urban heat islands. Urban design and planning solutions can assist in reducing heat-health risks, but they are rarely implemented. Through semi-structured interviews and an online survey, we investigated the role of such solutions in planning and urban design practice in South-East Queensland, Australia. The results showed planning professionals had lower awareness of the role urban design and planning played in heat mitigation and adaptation strategies compared to urban designers and architects. Continued professional development and a greater inclusion of heat mitigation design provisions in Queensland’s planning system and Australian planning education are outlined as future requirements.

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.

Urban climatic challenges can motivate urban planners and designers to implement urban climate-responsive design strategies. But does this process occur sufficiently, and if not, why? This study explores the implementation of urban climate-responsive design strategies, potential functional and aesthetic conflicts, availability of policy instruments that support implementation, strengths and weaknesses, and missed opportunities for integrating agendas. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts familiar with urban climate-responsive design. The results suggest that greening measures are most often implemented, strategies tend to compete with other land-uses, designers face aesthetic conflicts, and strategies are predominantly mainstreamed within existing policy instruments.