Impacto de la morfología del vecindario en el clima tropical: un estudio de caso de los barrios tradicionales de Kanyakumari, India

The morphology of the built environment interacts with the surrounding thermal environment. Thermal interactions affect a neighborhood’s energy demand and thermal comfort. The extreme temperatures owing to climate change demand intervention reciprocating in urban heating. Thus, this study analyzed the thermal interaction between morphology and the thermal environment. The study was conducted in the tropical city of Kanyakumari, located in India. The influence of aspect ratio, sky view factor, green cover ratio, and building cover ratio on the Universal Thermal Climate Index was studied. A quantitative analysis of the morphological variables was conducted to establish a relationship with the comfort variable. The aspect and green cover ratios positively correlated with the climate index. In contrast, the sky view factor and building cover ratio had a negative relation with the index. However, when vegetation was introduced in the streets, the interaction between the aspect ratio and the index was reversed, where an increase in aspect ratio reduced the comfort in the canyon by introducing vegetation.