Assessing thermal comfort in a landmark urban park: a case study and methodological framework of Alamo Square in San Francisco, USA

• A framework combining social media data and microclimate data predicted activity. • Microclimate factors prove more impactful than facility factors. • Post-reforestation vegetation reduced hot stress but increased cold stress. • Post-reforestation shaded zones often mismatched activity hubs. Urban green spaces are increasingly challenged by climate stressors, yet strategies for climate-adaptive renewal are often difficult to evaluate in culturally and historically significant sites. This study exames Alamo Square in San Francisco, a globally recognized tourist landmark parkas a single-case analysis of how incremental reforestation and shading interventions influence human activity patterns and thermal comfort. This study integrates geotagged social media data (Flickr/Instagram), ENVI-met microclimate simulations, and spatial statistical analyses (Kernel Density Estimation, hot spot analysis). Focusing on Alamo Square’s reforestation initiativeaimed at doubling tree density with drought-tolerant species-the research reveals that pre-intervention activity clustered densely near the iconic “Painted Ladies,” driven by tourism. Post-reforestation, vegetation significantly reduced summer PET values, dispersing heat stress zones, but introduced winter cold zones and spatial mismatches between shaded areas and emergent activity hubs. Rest facilities (e.g., shaded seating) consistently outperformed entertainment amenities in attracting users, highlighting their role in thermal adaptation. This work innovatively combines dynamic crowdsourced data with human-centered thermal metrics to expose seasonal trade-offs, advocating for designs that align cooling interventions with activity hot spots while mitigating winter discomfort. The findings demonstrate that effective urban green space design requires balancing ecological goals (e.g., canopy restoration) with human-centered strategies, such as strategic shading of high-traffic paths. By bridging environmental modeling and behavioral analytics, this study offers transferable insights and practical ecological indicators for landmark or tourism-driven parks to evaluate thermal comfort and enhance preparedness for future climatic challenges.