Identifying solar access effects on visitors' behavior in outdoor resting areas in a subtropical location: a case study in Japan Square in Curitiba, Brazil.

Changes in microclimate due to urban morphology tend to directly affect outdoor thermal comfort, thereby influencing people's behavior. In order to investigate that, this study analyzed preferences for specific resting areas within an urban square surrounded by high-rise buildings in a subtropical location. In order to understand behavioral adaptations as regards sunlight availability (direct or reflected) or shaded situations (partly, fully) in resting areas, the analysis was conducted according to an observational method during the four seasons of 2016. Two high-definition cameras with time-lapse function were positioned at vantage points facing distinct benches, shooting at intervals of 1.5 min between scenes. Altogether, 86,561 scenes were analyzed. As a thermal comfort parameter, the outdoor thermal comfort index 'PET' (physiological equivalent temperature) was used, by post-processing meteorological data from the local meteorological station. The availability of situations (sun-lit, shaded-partly or fully, reflected sunlight) in each frame and per bench and the preference of visitors for such areas were considered in the analysis. During winter, there was a prevalence of shaded situations, mostly due to adjacent buildings. In summer, the most common condition was partly shaded by trees. The choice for a given resting condition was found to be closely related to PET index values and thermal comfort/stress classes and less so to seasonal changes.