Impact of Urban Parks on the Climatic Pattern of Mendoza’s Metropolitan Area, in Argentina

ERICA CORREA; CLAUDIA MARTINEZ; GRACIELA LESINO; CARLOS DE ROSA; ALICIA CANTÓN

Geneva, Switzerland

Conferencia; PLEA2006 - The 23rd Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture; 2006

Mendoza’s Metropolitan Area (MMA), in central-western Argentina, is the result of a development model where the man-made environment and the natural one conform an intermingled mosaic, resulting in a strong insertion of green open spaces in the city. In this context, the open spaces: parks, squares and urban forests significantly modify the climatic pattern of the built environment. In this study the microclimatic effect of the parks have been evaluated by the analysis of different landscaped structures -San Martín, San Vicente and O’Higgins parks- located along the city’s main development lines and characterized according to the space and physical components: green lawns, water surfaces and wooded areas. These green structures were previously monitored during a summer season, in an urban heat island’s study, using a less detailed method, showing that the temperature profile decreases between 2 to 5 ºC respect the city’s centre, especially during the night. In this work 26 automatic stations, measuring temperature and humidity were placed inside and in the surroundings of the evaluated parks, starting on January 15th, 2006. The aim is to record their effect and environmental features related to the temperature and humidity profiles of MMA. The results show that, green spaces of smaller areas and contained within the urban tissue, perform as more efficient when compared to the greater extension parks as those placed at the city’s edge and  that the landscape design decisions of green spaces acquire greater importance as the lesser are their dimensions.   Keywords: green structures, urban configuration, heat urban island.