The present study addresses the issue of outdoor thermal comfort in a hot and dry climate in relation to urban geometry. This experimental work, conducted in an old desert city, aims to provide some quantitative knowledge on the effectiveness of traditional design forms in ensuring a comfortable thermal environment outdoors under extreme summer conditions. The study focused on the role of the geometry of urban canyons. Air temperature, air humidity and wind speed were measured during summer 2003 in various urban streets in the old Saharan city of Beni-Isguen, Algeria (32.40°N). The short-wave and long-wave radiation fluxes received by a human body from the 3D surroundings were also measured in order to allow an accurate calculation of the heat gained by a pedestrian. Bio-meteorological methodology was used and thermal comfort was expressed by means of the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) index. The results show that the heat stress in a hot-dry climate is very high in unobstructed locations in contrast to sheltered urban sites. The vertical street profile is of prime importance in the resulting thermal sensation. Building materials were also found to play a decisive role. Deep streets together with high thermal capacity materials mitigate the heat stress in the daytime. The high and heavy walls provide more shading and more heat storage, leading to lower surfaces temperatures. Hence, a human body absorbs less short-wave radiation owing to reduced direct exposure, and also less radiant heat from the surrounding environment is absorbed by the body. In contrast, air temperature and air humidity show little dependence on the urban geometry. Therefore, these factors are less relevant indicators for outdoor thermal comfort in the summertime.

This contribution investigates the correlation between street noise levels and the spatial configuration of the street network in four different types of neighbourhoods in the Algerian city of Biskra. Space syntax methods are used to analyse spatial relationships, where accessibility, intelligibility, and legibility of urban spaces can be evaluated. The degree of spatial integration is used as an accessibility indicator and is correlated with recorded noise level data at 154 points from the selected neighbourhoods. As the results show, there are strong correlations between spatial integration and recorded sound pressures on streets and roads in colonial and unplanned neighbourhoods. The reason is that these types of neighbourhoods have a street network with high correlations between street connectivity and global spatial integration. There are weak correlations between connectivity and global spatial integration throughout the modern planned neighbourhood, which again affects the correlation between noise and space. The experiment shows that space syntax methods have the potential to predict degrees of accessibility and orientability for people with visual impairments in urban planning.