Although life in the equatorial tropics is largely an outdoor phenomenon, modern
urban development has by and large failed to facilitate such living in a
climatically pleasant manner. The approach then, should be an attempt to make
the equatorial urban outdoors thermally comfortable. (Emmanuel, 1993)
The primary approach to the research is to quantify and compare the thermal
comfort implications of critical canyon geometry in warm humid Colombo. It
explores street canyons that are currently existing as well as projected under the
Sri Lanka, Urban Development Authority Development (UDA) Plan for 2020.
Thus, the task is twofold; to report on the thermal comfort effects of the most
widespread urban canyons in the city, and secondly to project the change that
will occur with the growth of Colombo's built fabric, therefore canyon geometry.
The urban fabric simplified using the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) system and
surveyed shows the most predominant street canyons essentially encompass the
compact low-rise and mid-rise areas of the city. The research reveals that
thermal comfort cannot be achieved within the existing and projected urban
canyons, for the peak time of the day
