The EUREQUA project raises the issue of the definition and evaluation of the environmental quality of neighbourhoods. The approach consists of integrating and cross-referencing observable data characterising the physical environment and people's perception of their quality of life. The study area is a neighbourhood in Toulouse (France) with high social and typomorphological diversity, subject to noise and air pollution nuisances. Three 3-day field campaigns were organised in January, April, and June 2014. Instrumented and commented walks took place three times per day. For each one, measurements of physical environmental parameters and surveys were performed simultaneously at six locations in the neighbourhood. The study focuses on microclimate and thermal comfort issues. It aims to compare in situ meteorological data of air temperature, humidity, wind speed, and mean radiant temperature, with quantitative results rating human perception of heat, humidity, wind, and thermal comfort. The variability in perception and measurements is mainly driven by seasonal effects, especially for heat and humidity, and, to a lesser extent, for wind. Wind perception and measurement also vary spatially, thus highlighting site effects. Linear models indicate a positive link between heat perception and mean radiant temperature, as well as between wind perception and mean and standard deviation of wind speed (with a higher sensitivity of people to wind under winter climate conditions). Finally, it is found that perception of thermal comfort is only slightly linked to the different microclimate dimensions, and is rather driven by other appreciation factors and emotional criteria related to the general environmental quality of the study area.
The goal of this research is to assess environmental quality at the neighbourhood level through a multi-dimensional and multi-sensory approach that combines social and physical methodologies. For this purpose, an interdisciplinary protocol has been designed to simultaneously collect physical parameter measurements (related to microclimate and acoustics) and survey data on perceptions (involving residents and non-residents). The cross-referenced analysis of data collected at six contrasting places in a district in Toulouse (France) enabled us (i) to better understand and prioritise the factors that influence residents' assessment of the quality of their living environment and (ii) to understand to what extent the differentiation of the places by the inhabitants converges with the differentiation of these places based on acoustic and micrometeorological measurements. The statistical analysis based on individuals showed the importance of noise and air quality that rank just after the aesthetic dimension for all respondents. Nevertheless, the quality of maintenance and the feeling of security that the place inspires seem to be as crucial as these environmental criteria for the inhabitants. The analysis focused on the sites highlighted the consistency between the typology of places based on perceptions and that based on acoustic measurements, which confirms the high inhabitants' sensitivity to this environmental component.
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