a b s t r a c tThis paper investigates how vegetation, mainly through evapotranspiration, affects the improvement of microclimatic conditions in urban areas and, more specifically, it examines the case for the city of Chania in Crete. The objectives of this study are to examine the bioclimatic role of green areas in urban sites as they affect the thermal comfort of residents, and to study the cross-correlation of factors that participate in this process.To achieve these objectives, we have examined the parameters that contribute to the microclimate of a space and consider how it is influenced by vegetation. In addition, we have analyzed the effect of vegetation with respect to evapotranspiration, and have recorded the existing vegetation of Chania city and the relationship with the geomorphologic and urban characteristics of the city. This has involved calculating the evapotranspiration of various plant species, and collecting measurements at various places in Chania. These studies are designed to determine the cause of the changes of thermal comfort in different parts of the city, and to examine the differentiation of thermal comfort that is observed between different plant species with respect to the evapotranspiration measure that has been calculated for each of them. The intention of this work is to aid efforts to improve the environment of Chania through better planning and the appropriate choice of the species used for planting open spaces. Finally, it is hoped that the results of this work will be of use in planning the environments of spaces in other cities that have similar characteristics.
This paper classifies the streets of the city of Orestiada, Greece, and examines the correlation between the geometric characteristics of streets and the appropriate height of trees that form the street tree lines so that the microclimate in each street may be improved. The rows of trees improve the aesthetic quality of the urban spaces, and also strengthen the sense of enclosure through tree planting, especially in monot-onous urban landscapes. Our main aim is to augment the veg-etation in urban areas to achieve the greatest shading of streets in order to contribute to the improvement of the urban environ-ment in terms of bioclimatic conditions. The methodology used in this paper aims to promote the use of trees in urban design, and to evaluate the effects of shading at the city scale with regard to microclimate and energy saving, and to develop tree selection and design guidelines for recommended planting pro-grams. It is expected that the results of the study will be useful to Urban Planners, Urban Arboriculturists, Urban Foresters and Landscape Architects that are engaged in the design and con-struction of streetscapes in Mediterranean region.
This paper examined users’ preferences for landscape design of grounds and spaces surrounding hospitals, in order to assess how they perceived the landscape facilities so as to make future open spaces of hospitals suitable to users’ needs. The method of the research was based on quantifying a questionnaire survey of a representative sample of personnel (doctors, nurses, administrative staff and medical students) by using the stratified sample research programme that was carried out in March 2007 at the University Hospital of the city of Alexandroupolis, situated in northeastern Greece. The results of study show that users of hospital cared about footpaths, resting areas, social and public spaces, personal spaces, water features and a dominant, limited range of colors in landscaping. They also require environment that supports the principles and specifications of Therapeutic Hospital Gardens. Based on the results of this research, (a) interventions have been proposed (e.g., footpaths, resting areas, social and public spaces, personal spaces, water features and a dominant, limited range of colors in landscaping), and (b) the principles and specifications for the landscape design of Therapeutic Hospital Gardens have also been evaluated and have been redefined in the light of the study findings. These results also provide the opportunity for health care decision makers to apply and to incorporate user considerations into overall landscape design for current and future health care programs
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.