The Effect of Water Elements on Urban Comfort

Urban planners often design water elements to improve the appearance (or beauty) of the cities. The cooling effects of these facilities such as fountains, waterfalls, and urban canals – have not received enough attention. This paper describes the methodology developed by the authors to analyse the effect of "water elements" on the urban comfort for the city of Bandar-Abbas. The authors propose using water facilities to modify surrounding temperature and resolve the heat problem in urban areas, especially in hot-arid climates. To this end, field measurements have been made and temperature around water facilities in some areas of Bandar-Abbas city, located in south of Iran were taken. The outcome showed the usefulness of water elements for reducing the heat and improving the thermal environment comfort. The air temperature near or far from water facilities were measured with a thermometer. The results confirmed the qualitative range of cooling effect provided by the water facilities.

Keywords:

outdoor comfort , water elements , hot-arid climate , thermal environment comfort , urban design