The Influence of climate elements on the environmental quality of public space: analysis through Post-Occupancy Evaluation tools in squares

análise através de ferramentas da Avaliação Pós-Ocupação em praças

Abstract

This article is an excerpt from the research "Palimpsest: The Redesign of the Landscape and the Interventions of the PAC Cidades Históricas in the downtown area of Natal (RN)", which evaluates the impacts of these interventions on the public spaces of the Historic Center of Natal/RN. This study aims to elucidate the influences of climatic and urban elements such as sound, light, ventilation, vegetation, urban cleaning and maintenance, urban fixtures and accessibility, on the environmental quality of public spaces, using real examples of the André de Albuquerque and Padre João Maria public squares after the PAC Cidades Históricas renovations, through a qualitative evaluation of the use of public squares from an environmental quality perspective and supported by data obtained through Post-Occupancy Evaluations (POE). The POE methodological procedure was applied in the research using the following tools: project updating (as built), behavioral mapping, questionnaires, and interviews. In the results, each of the climatic and urban elements was discussed and explained with the support of POE data. Thus, it was evidenced that such elements can impact the space in favorable or unfavorable ways, depending on the natural environment and its alterations by human solutions, and they are perceived differently by people, and such subjective perceptions defines the environmental quality of the space.