Landscape variability of Melbourne’s botanic gardens and visitor thermal comfort

Outdoor thermal comfort is important for tourism and landscape design. Many previous studies have identified the thermal comfort range for local residents, but how it differs for overseas visitors is unknown. Improving human thermal comfort is essential as it enhances the quality of urban living and the use of outdoor space. Urban green space has previously been shown to reduce the perception of thermal discomfort under hot conditions. However, there has been limited research on the impact of different vegetation configuration on cooling the environment at a microscale. Moreover, cooling associated with irrigation is not well understood in urban green space. This study demonstrates the importance of thermal comfort in urban planning using the Royal Botanic Garden Melbourne (RBGM) and Cranbourne (RBGC) in Australia as case studies. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of heatwaves in Melbourne, which will affect the comfort of visitors to botanical gardens and parks. Weather station data in both RBGM and RBGC were compared against thermal comfort survey data from visitors during the summer of 2013/2014 ( n = 2198 at RBGM, n = 1122 at RBGC). Meteorological transects were also conducted in RBGC. This study is the first to compare the results from two large botanic gardens with different irrigation regimes and plant species in Australia. Besides the survey and weather data, information regarding irrigation, soil infiltration and sky view factors were obtained to determine the effect of shading and irrigation on temperature reduction. The thermal perception of local residents before and after the unprecedented January 2014 heatwave was also compared. Overseas visitors had a fundamentally different thermal perception and preference compared with local Australian visitors. Clothing behaviour also differed between visitors from different countries of origin. This finding assists the tourism industry in marketing tourism destinations to visitors from different countries. Local Australians’ thermal ...