Estimation of the Adaptive Comfort Range for Public Spaces in Hot Climates: the Case of Cali

Abstract

The COVID-pandemics revealed the importance of public spaces to overcome societal challenges. The post pandemic is the ideal scenario to review the criteria used in the design of cities’ parks and public squares. The hygrothermal comfort study has focused on indoor spaces; however, there is the need for these parameters to move outdoors, where the culture of space, climate, and materiality connect to create spaces that respond to climate and local population. With the goal of deciding the adaptive comfort range in the public spaces for the city of Cali, Colombia, six public spaces with different characteristics are discussed, combining on site measurements with user satisfaction surveys. As a result, comfort diagrams are created for outdoor spaces with indicators for the design of public spaces with optimal conditions for hot semi-arid and hot semi-humid climates.