Climatic behavior of various urban parks during hot and humid summer in the Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv, Israel

This study examines the climatic behavior of different designs of urban parks during hot and humid summer conditions, and their influence on human comfort in Tel Aviv, Israel. The research was conducted in three different types of urban parks: a park with grass and a few low trees, a park with medium sized trees and a park with high and wide-canopied trees. The results showed that an urban park that contains high trees with a wide canopy has the maximum cooling effect during daytime, reduces temperatures by up to 3.5 degrees C and lowers heat stress values despite increasing relative humidity values. An urban park that contains dense, medium sized trees can also reduce temperatures during daytime by up to 2.5 degrees C as well as slightly lower heat stress. However, during nighttime it can create uncomfortable climatic conditions owing to the reduction of wind velocity and increase in relative humidity. An urban park covered with grass can be warmer and sometimes even more humid than the built-up area during the day, which increases heat stress values. Copyright (C) 2006 Royal Meteorological Society.