Tool adjustments to support climate adaptation in urban planning for southern cities: The case of Greater Tunis, Tunisia

• Published in: Cybergeo
• Main Authors: Mhedhbi, Zohra, Hidalgo, Julia, Munck, Cécile de, Haouès-Jouve, Sinda, Touati, Najla, Masson, Valéry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: UMR 8504 Géographie-cités 12-07-2022; Unité Mixte de Recherche 8504 Géographie-cités
• Subjects: climate change; climatic visualization; Environmental Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; map analysis; thermal comfort; urban planning; politiques urbaines; visualisation climatique; análisis cartográfico; climatic visualization; políticas urbanas; map analysis; urban planning; confort climático; confort thermique; analyse cartographique; thermal comfort; changement climatique; visualización climática; cambio climático; climate change
• ISSN: 1278-3366; 1278-3366
• DOI: 10.4000/cybergeo.39297

Urban microclimate studies could help manage heatwave crises and improve climate friendly urban planning. This paper presents adjustments to tools and approaches, in particular the Urban Climate Maps framework, typically produced in industrialized countries for contexts relevant to developing countries, where accurate urban data are often not available. In this study, relevant urban, architectural and land use data were collected and constructed to enable numerical simulations of a heat wave episode in the Greater Metropolitan area of Tunis. The simulation results indicate that the diurnal heat stress reached very high values corresponding to an extreme heat stress level, according to the Urban Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) scale, by 9 a.m. local time. The highest sea-breeze speeds were over the sea (∼8 m s−1). However, the effect of the sea breeze was low over densely urbanized areas (<3 m s−1). At night, the intensity of the urban heat island reached +4.5°C. Urban climatic maps were produced via a statistical analysis of the numerical simulation outputs for the diurnal heat stress and the urban heat island intensity. The impact of the sea breeze on the heat stress level is communicated using two UTCI maps. Strategic maps were also proposed to highlight critical areas for urban actors. These strategic maps illustrate the zoning of relevant territorial issues to facilitate dialog with the Urban Planning Agency of the Greater Metropolitan area of Tunis.