Abstract/Summary

The thermal experience of people moving in urban spaces in everyday life is characterised by multiple qualities and perceptions. This seamless transition from one perception to another in itself creates a multisensory network of dynamic thermal boundaries, which could act as assessment mechanism in the way we perceive quality of urban space and urban design. Using a hybrid methodology of situated interactions between thermal perception, microclimate and urban morphology this chapter builds a simulated narrative of the everyday, perceptions and ‘haptics’ of moving in urban spaces taking into account both physical and non-physical spaces, exploring the sensory potential and thermal dimension of urban wandering. This approach contributes in understanding the link between environmental quality in urban spaces and urban microclimate, proposing a series of design tools for multisensory assessment, with thermal perception as a starting point for the creation of high quality city spaces.