Why Small Built Parks Matter: Evidence that Small Urban Vegetation Improves Thermal Comfort in Hyper-arid Cities

Why Small Built Parks Matter: Evidence that Small Urban Vegetation Improves Thermal Comfort in Hyper-arid Cities | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Why Small Built Parks Matter: Evidence that Small Urban Vegetation Improves Thermal Comfort in Hyper-arid Cities Abdullah Al-Nadabi, Hameed Sulaiman This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9010867/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Muscat, the capital of Oman is a hyper-arid city characterized by intensive solar radiation for most part of the year similar to the neighboring Gulf cooperation countries (GCC). Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) is critical for livability, was assessed. A field survey was carried out in vegetated and non-vegetated area in summer where objective and subjective parameters were simultaneously collected. The former represents environmental parameters measured using a Kestrel 5400 Heat Stress Tracker, while the later was assessed through a structured face-to-face questionnaire. A total of 415 respondents were involved to assess their thermal sensation vote (TSV) and environmental parameters preference using ASHRAE 7-point scale and Mclntyre scale respectively. The computation of the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) was performed via RayMan pro version 3.1 software. The Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) range of 23.6°C- 30.8°C and neutral PET of 27.2°C was obtained. PET is moderately correlated (R = 0.7, R 2 = 0.50) with thermal sensation votes and it is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). A linear regression model specific to the country's climatic zone and the national dress code of the citizens was established as: TSV= (0.14×PET) -3.8. The majority of respondents (96.2%) in vegetated area felt, the temperature to be more thermally acceptable and comfortable, while the percentage fall to quarter in non-vegetated area. This study emphasizes the importance of human thermal comfort in urban areas contributing to knowledge on the influence of microclimate in hot arid climatic zones, and cities in those zones can adapt by transforming the urban spaces. Urbanization Outdoor thermal comfort Thermal sensation votes Physiological equivalent temperature microclimate Full Text Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9010867","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":610324634,"identity":"2e0aed5c-05b8-4c29-9a86-9376ce7f6bc3","order_by":0,"name":"Abdullah Al-Nadabi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdullah","middleName":"","lastName":"Al-Nadabi","suffix":""},{"id":610324635,"identity":"b1d5a2e3-f7a3-4b62-ae03-412d34a3b6d4","order_by":1,"name":"Hameed Sulaiman","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAvklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAzDJZgPh8ZCgJY10LYdJ0GLOfjrxwYey8/Z8NxIYH7xtY5DTbSCgxbInd7PhjHO3E2feSGA2nNvGYGx2gJDDDuRuk+Ztu51gcCOBDchgSNxGUMv5t9t//207Zw/Uwv6bOC03crcxM7YdYNwAtIWZSC1vN0v2nEtOnHnmYbPknHMSRPjlfO7GDz/K7Oz5jicf/PCmzEaOoBYEOMDYACQliFYP0kKK4lEwCkbBKBhRAAB5zUYyPSP8vQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5317-9169","institution":"Sultan Qaboos University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hameed","middleName":"","lastName":"Sulaiman","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-02 13:41:40","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9010867/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9010867/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108182530,"identity":"a206b2a1-3187-4ae0-bcf0-e9598124fa61","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-30 08:59:25","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1476242,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ModifiedManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9010867/v1_covered_94c2ebc9-28e1-4ff5-b5d4-5281cca5c591.pdf"},{"id":105408282,"identity":"6fc302dc-ff23-4ad0-b4d1-ddf4fe626371","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-25 16:59:24","extension":"docx","order_by":7,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":1324878,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMaterial.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9010867/v1/8be92b8401608ab9937d80f7.docx"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Why Small Built Parks Matter: Evidence that Small Urban Vegetation Improves Thermal Comfort in Hyper-arid Cities","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Urbanization, Outdoor thermal comfort, Thermal sensation votes, Physiological equivalent temperature, microclimate","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9010867/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9010867/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMuscat, the capital of Oman is a hyper-arid city characterized by intensive solar radiation for most part of the year similar to the neighboring Gulf cooperation countries (GCC). Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) is critical for livability, was assessed. A field survey was carried out in vegetated and non-vegetated area in summer where objective and subjective parameters were simultaneously collected. The former represents environmental parameters measured using a Kestrel 5400 Heat Stress Tracker, while the later was assessed through a structured face-to-face questionnaire. A total of 415 respondents were involved to assess their thermal sensation vote (TSV) and environmental parameters preference using ASHRAE 7-point scale and Mclntyre scale respectively. The computation of the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) was performed via RayMan pro version 3.1 software. The Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) range of 23.6\u0026deg;C- 30.8\u0026deg;C and neutral PET of 27.2\u0026deg;C was obtained. 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