Urban Form and Microclimatic Conditions in Urban Open Spaces at the Densely Built Centre of a Greek City

The paper presents an experimental investigation of the microclimatic conditions in selected open spaces in the city centre of Volos, a medium-sized coastal city in Greece. It presents the results of systematic field measurements that took place in three urban sites; a public open space and two typical urban blocks. The measurements were carried out during the summer of 2013 and concerned air temperature and relative humidity recordings. Data collection was used to assess the formation and the eventual differentiation of microclimate on a restricted local scale in the urban environment, such as that of a typical urban block or/and a typical public square in the centre of Greek cities. Additionally, research has taken into account buildings construction materials, the predominant paving materials and the key parameters determined by urban geometry in the selected sites, i.e the Aspect Ratio (H/W) and the Sky View Factor (SVF). The measurements revealed microclimatic differences within the inside open space of two of the urban blocks, i.e the courtyard generated of the different building ownerships, the various street canyons and the recordings of the local meteorological station.