The incidence of urban squares on the thermal behavior of the environment in areas of high building density. The case of the city of Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract

Squares conceived of as “garden squares” - the dominant model in the cities of Latin America - generate microclimatic effects at the urban and building scales given that they act as a source of night cooling. In low- and medium-density contexts, this effect is fundamentally associated with the design of the square: a predominantly semi-sealed central core with surrounding green space including woods and lawns. However, in the case of the city of Mendoza, Argentina, the tendency to redensify the urban fabric as a strategy to control urban growth limits the benefits provided by current plaza configurations. Hence, this paper evaluates the impact of increasing the dimensions of squares on their own thermal behavior, and, their influence on the microclimate of the mediate environment as an alternative to enhance their benefits in high-density urban areas. To this end, three case studies were selected: two with areas equivalent to a city block, 10,000m2, located in medium- and high-density environments; and a third with a greater surface area, 40,000m2, in a high-density context. These cases were thermally monitored over a period of 21 days in the summer using HOBO H08-003-02 data loggers. Solar radiation conditions were characterized by determining the Sky-view Factor (SVF). The results show that by increasing the size of a “garden square,” its different structures - central core, woods, lawns - have lower temperatures compared to its surroundings throughout the day. Consequently, this is an efficient strategy to improve the benefits of open spaces with respect to their microclimatic effects in high-density urban environments. Although it is not possible to implement this variable in established cities, it is a premise to consider in new urban developments.