Climatic benefits of urban parks: case study in a mediterranean context

Green spaces make a significant contribution to the climatic comfort of urban dwellers. These contributions can be in the form of cooling in hot summers and heating in cold winters compared to the surrounding built-up areas. These contributions are related to the landscape design of parks to a certain extent. The presence and extension of hard grounds and waters in parks as well as the type, texture and density of plants used determine the level of climatic comfort provided. The present research was conducted in Aydın Kanza Park in the Mediterranean City of Antalya, Türkiye, to determine the cooling and heating benefits of the park, located in a warm climate area. Temperature, humidity, and wind speed were measured once a week all year round at four different locations inside the park (tree-covered, lawn-covered, hard ground, pond-side) as well as at three locations at a distance of 50, 100 and 300 meters away from the park. The findings indicate that Aydın Kanza Park provides 2.4 o C warmer environment in the first four months of the year and 2 o C cooler environment in the following seven months in terms of mean values at midday compared to the built-up area surrounding the park. The findings also indicate that the heating and cooling effect provided by the park continues at a certain distance from the park. However, there is no significant difference between the temperature, humidity, and wind speed values of various locations with different land cover inside the park, which is most probably related to the size of the park.