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To date, studies of outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) have focused primarily on physical factors, tending to overlook the relevance of individual adaptation to microclimate parameters through psychological and physiological behaviors. These adaptations can significantly affect the use of urban and outdoor spaces. The study presented here investigated these issues, with a view to aiding sustainable urban development. Measurements of OTC were taken at a university campus and in urban spaces. Simultaneously, a large-scale survey of thermal adaptability was conducted. Two groups were selected for investigation in a cold-winter-and-hot-summer (CWHS) region, respondents came from humid subtropical (Cfa) and hot desert (BWh) climates, according to the K&ouml, ppen Climate Classification (KCC). Results showed that: (1) neutral physiological equivalent temperature (NPET) and preferred PET for people from the Cfa (PCfa) and BWh (PBWh) groups could be obtained with KCC, (2) PCfa adaptability behaviors were, subjectively, more adjustable than PBWhl, (3) Clothing affected neutral temperature (NT), where NT reduced by approximately 0.5 &deg, C when clothing insulation rose 0.1 Clo, and (4) Gender barely affected thermal acceptance vote (TAV) or thermal comfort vote (TCV) and there was a substantial relationship between thermal sensation, NT, and PET. These findings suggest &lsquo, feels like&rsquo, temperature and comfort may be adjusted via relationships between microclimate parameters.

Numerous cities face the serious problems of rapid urbanization and climate change, especially in recent years. Among all cities, Wuhan is one of the most affected by these changes, accompanied by the transformation of water surfaces into urban lands and the decline of natural ventilation. This study investigated the impact of surface urban heat island enlargement (SUHI) and block morphology changes in heat balance. Accordingly, the interactive impact of building diversity with major building forms (low-rise, mid-rise, and high-rise) on thermal balance and microclimate changes under the influence of urban land expansion at the residential block scale was studied. To investigate the heat balance changes by air temperature intensification and air movement reduction, a long-term and field observational analysis (1980&ndash, 2018) coupled with computational fluid dynamic simulation (CFD) was used to evaluate the impact of building diversity on thermal balance. Outcomes show that urban heat island intensity (UHII) increased by 2 ℃ when water surfaces in urban areas decreased, consequently, there was a deterioration in the air movement to alleviate UHII. Thus, the air movement declined substantially with UHII and SUHI enlargement, which, through increased urban surfaces and roughness length, will become worse by 2020. Furthermore, the decline in air movement caused by the transformation of urban water bodies cannot contribute to the heat balance unless reinforced by the morphology of the urban blocks. In the design of inner-city blocks, morphological indicators have a significant impact on microclimate and heat balance, where increasing building density and plot ratio will increase UHII, and increasing water surfaces will result in an increase in urban ventilation. Lastly, a substantial correlation between air temperature and relative humidity was found, which, together with the block indicators, can help control the air temperature and adjust the urban microclimate.