Analysis of Pedestrian Wind Comfort in Urban Open Spaces: The Case of İzmir Karşıyaka Shopping District

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of varies street H/W ratios (where H is the building`s height and W is the distance between the buildings) and also the effect of parallel or perpendicular orientation of street canyon to the prevailing wind on urban street wind movement in Izmir, Karşıyaka Shopping District. On the other hand, this study aims to investigate pedeastrian wind comfort performance of typical street canyons which includes varies pedestrian activities such as walking, standing, strolling and long term sitting. The method of this study is based on systematic investigations with in situ wind speed measurement. It is found that street canyon's H/W ratios and their orientations to the prevailing wind direction affect the wind movement significantly. In Karşıyaka Shopping District, it is observed more wind speed in street canyons which are perpendecular to the prevailing wind compared to those which are parallel. On the other hand, an increment of street H/W ratio increases wind speed in all street canyons. All the streets in Karşıyaka Shopping District were comfortable for short-term sitting and walking activities while discomfort problems were detected in long-term sitting areas. With the findings obtained from this study, pedestrian activities and open spaces in Karşıyaka Shopping District can be made more comfortable by rearranging the area according to the pedestrian wind comfort performance.

Keywords

• sustainability of urban open spaces
• street canyon; pedestrian wind comfort criteria; pedestrian wind comfort.