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CSS colloquium: Yoran Jørgen Balslev, Tel Aviv University

Climatic aspects in the first city plan of Tel-Aviv (1925)

Info about event

Time

Wednesday 10 February 2016,  at 14:15 - 15:45

Location

Aud. D4 (1531-219)

Our study examines the climatic aspects of the first city plan of Tel-Aviv (1925). This paper examines how the 1925 plan effected outdoor human thermal comfort in two periods: at the time of its implementation (1920-30s) and in the present (2010s). Additionally, the paper asks which of the two - shade or wind velocity – has greater influence on outdoor thermal comfort in the urban areas along the Israeli Mediterranean seashore.

 

The city of Tel-Aviv provides an ideal case study to examine these issues. Tel-Aviv was established in 1909 and grew rapidly. In 1925, the city had 34,000 inhabitants and there was a demand for a city plan. The task was given to Professor Patrick Geddes, who planned a city for 100,000 inhabitants that would spread along the Mediterranean seashore and would be suited to local environmental conditions. Geddes planned a grid of main streets, where the wide commercial streets stretched from north to south parallel to the sea. As a result, the main streets of Tel-Aviv were shaded most of the summer days but blocked from the sea wind. The plan was implemented during the late 1920s and 1930s.

 

To examine the thermal comfort at street level during the 1920's and 30's, a series of summer and winter climatological measurements were taken in the years 2010-13 and compared to historical climatic data from the 1920-30s. The historical city structure was then reconstructed virtually and the climatological measurements for 2010-13 were fed into the RayMan model to produce thermal comfort data (PET). The results show that in both summer and winter, solar radiation has a greater effect on thermal comfort than wind velocity. Consequently, the 1925 urban plan created improved thermal sensation in the main streets of Tel Aviv, mainly by the reduction of solar radiation.