Vegetation Arrangement Evaluation of Microclimate in Urban Public Open Space

摘要

Planning a public open space requires the optimization of the arrangement of landscape elements.One of the main constituent elements is vegetation. Vegetation minimizes direct surface solar radiation andoptimizes wind speed. The shape and configuration of vegetation also affect the temperature, humidity and windpatterns. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of vegetation on the micro-climate of open publicspaces and explore the possible configuration of vegetation to maximize the cooling effect on public open spacesin Kendari. To examine this issue, field surveys have been conducted at two adjoining study sites. Moreover, thethermal comfort aspect from the perception of visitors is also measured. The comfort index of this study ismeasured by using the Thermal Humidity Index (THI) formula. The study site is divided in grids of total 21sample plots. The study shows that the percentage of canopy cover of tree vegetation at Taman Walikota is 64%and 33% in the square of TuguReligi. Another result shows that the dense vegetation can decrease the airtemperature around 2oC-4oCand slower the wind speed. In other words, a dense vegetation of trees and shrubscan retain airflows and trap hot temperature on the surrounding area. Moreover, the level of thermal comfortbased on the THI index generally feels comfortable in the afternoon at both locations.