Chong Sui Jeen, Dora Tay Hui Xuan, Ng Zhi Yuan, Tay Chun Jiang, Yoo Sungjoon
Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin
Industry Advisor: NParks
Despite losing almost 90% of the original vegetation, about 50% of Singapore today is still vegetated. This in part is due to Singapore’s efforts in promoting manicured parks. Manicured areas serve ecosystem functions such as lowering surrounding temperatures and also provide recreational facilities for park users. Our project examined how manicured areas in Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG) affect human thermal comfort. We examined how relative humidity and air temperatures of two manicured areas that are 1. elevated, 2. close to water bodies, compare to a control that is an open manicured area with minimal shading. Our data came from datalogger installed at the three areas. We also conducted survey on thermal comfort of park users at the same sites and analyzed the correlations between the data with the user comfort data. Our results help to determine key factors influencing microclimate within the urban park and direct in future planting designs.
Keywords: Natural Environment & Ecosystems, urban park microclimate, human thermal comfort, temperature and humdity datalogger, elevated walkway