Urban Climatic Map: Thermal Comfort as the Synergising Indicator

The distinctive features of urban climate have been widely studied for decades. However, the consideration of urban climate in urban planning and design framework is rather limited. One of the possible reasons is due to the difference in working languages between scientists and urban planners such that the urban climatic knowledge cannot be readily utilised in the planning and design practices. The concept of urban climatic map provides an information platform for the presentation of urban climatic phenomena on a two-dimensional spatial map in a format that can be readily interpreted by urban planners. Areas with environmental problems or sensitive to urban climate can therefore be easily identified for mitigation measures. In this paper, the methodology and results of the urban climatic analysis map, as the first part of the urban climatic map study of Hong Kong, are presented and the implications on urban planning and design practices are discussed.