This paper explores winter patios in Edmonton through the lens of place and climate sensitive design, then reflects upon the existing regulations that influence the design and management of winter patios in Edmonton. The City of Edmonton provides this research opportunity because it is currently pursuing the creation of a four-season patio culture in the city, and has created a strong WinterCity agenda. The introduction explores Edmonton’s local climate and its winter city strategy. This is followed by an explanation of the study’s methodology. The purpose of this thesis is to study how climate sensitive design principles can be applied to create places that attract winter activity. The research questions ask how climate sensitive design principles are currently incorporated in patios, what barriers exist to creating these spaces, and how to overcome these barriers in municipal processes. Many cities in cold climates seek ways to create vibrant, active cities through all seasons, and this study explores how climate sensitive planning principles can help create environments that invite winter activity. To answer the research question, a qualitative methodology was used to examine the case study of Edmonton winter patios using Eliasson’s (2007) concept of place and microclimate. The study identifies design weaknesses in Edmonton patios with little provision of shelter from wind, snow and rain, as well as limited consideration of snow storage and removal. Interviews and document review identify lack of interest and a lack of attention to the physical component of place as barriers to the creation of winter patios. Finally, the use of analytical tools such as urban climatic maps are suggested, as well as the introduction of microclimate standards so information about weather and microclimate can influence how physical components of place are planned and evaluated.

Introdução: As doenças sensíveis ao clima são as que podem ser afetadas, direta ou indiretamente, temporalmente ou geograficamente pelo clima. Diversas variáveis climáticas têm sido fortemente relacionadas à magnitude e à sazonalidade da transmissão dessas doenças no país. Mas o Brasil possui uma grande diversidade climática em suas regiões e, portanto, maneiras diferentes de influenciar no comportamento dessas doenças. No município de Rio Branco, anualmente as oscilações climáticas são intensificadas pelas queimadas e pela ocorrência de enchentes e inundações. Com a perspectiva das mudanças climáticas globais, a tendência é o aumento da frequência desses eventos. Dessa forma, são necessários estudos mais detalhados que possam contribuir para as políticas de promoção à saúde nesta região. Objetivo: Estudar o comportamento da ocorrência das principais doenças sensíveis ao clima da região frente à variabilidade climática, no município de Rio Branco, entre os anos de 2000 e 2013. Métodos: Foram estudadas as doenças sensíveis ao clima de maior importância para a região: doenças diarreicas infecciosas, leptospirose, dengue e as doenças respiratórias (influenza, asma e pneumonia). A coleta dos dados foi feita por meio dos Sistemas de Informações Hospitalares e de Agravos de Notificação do Sistema Único de Saúde. Os dados referentes às variáveis climáticas (temperatura, umidade relativa, precipitação, nível do Rio Acre e aerossóis) foram obtidos do Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia, da Agência Nacional das Águas e do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais. Para as análises de associação, foram considerados os modelos lineares generalizados clássicos, os autorregressivos e médias móveis e os mistos, com distribuição binomial negativa. Resultados: Neste município, existe associação positiva entre as médias mensais do nível do Rio Acre e as taxas mensais de internações por doenças diarreicas infecciosas e as incidências mensais de dengue e leptospirose. Isto indica que a população fica mais exposta a essas doenças durante as cheias e inundações do Rio Acre. A precipitação esteve positivamente relacionada às taxas de internações por dengue e leptospirose. No entanto, as chuvas parecem exercer efeito protetor para as doenças respiratórias, característica contrária das demais regiões do país. As temperaturas mais altas parecem favorecer a ocorrência de dengue na região, mas exercem efeito protetor para internações por pneumonia para crianças com menos de 5 anos de idade e idosos com mais de 70. Por fim, os aerossóis estiveram diretamente relacionados ao aumento das taxas de internações por pneumonia e asma, tanto para idosos quanto crianças, especialmente as com menos de 1 ano de idade. Conclusões: Ao considerar também os aerossóis, a influência do clima foi medida, neste estudo, em sinergia com as mudanças ambientais produzidas pelos humanos na saúde da população. Com as mudanças climáticas globais, os padrões climáticos estão sofrendo mudanças em diversos lugares do mundo. Dessa forma, a ampliação deste conhecimento em nível regional é fundamental para que se possa implementar ações de prevenção e mitigação dos impactos, principalmente para a população mais exposta / Introduction: Climate-sensitive diseases are those that can directly, indirectly, temporally, or geographically be affected by climate. Several climatic variables have been strongly related to the magnitude and seasonality of transmission of these diseases in the country. Brazil, however, has a great climatic diversity in its regions; therefore, different factors influence the nature of these diseases. In the municipality of Rio Branco, climatic oscillations increase by fires and floods. With the perspective of global climatic changes, the tendency is for these events to occur more often. More detailed studies are, thus, required that can contribute to health promotion policies in this region. Objective: To study the effect of climatic variability on the frequency of occurrence of the main climate-sensitive diseases in the municipality of Rio Branco, between 2000 and 2013. Methods: The climate-sensitive diseases of greatest importance to the region were studied, including infectious diarrheic diseases, leptospirosis, dengue fever, and respiratory diseases (influenza, asthma, and pneumonia). Data were collected through the Hospital Information and Case Registry Databases of the Unified Health System. Data on the climatic variables (temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, Acre River level, and aerosols) were obtained from the National Institute of Meteorology, National Water Agency, and National Institute of Space Research. For analyses of associations, the classical generalized linear, autoregressive, mobile, and mixed mean models, with negative binomial distribution were considered. Results: Positive associations were found among the monthly means of the Acre River level, hospitalization rates due to infectious diarrheic diseases, and incidences of dengue fever and leptospirosis. This indicates that the population is more exposed to these diseases during high tides and floods in the Acre River. Rainfall was positively related to the hospitalization rates due to dengue fever and leptospirosis. However, the rains seemed to have a protective effect against respiratory diseases, contrary to the characteristic of the other regions of the country. High temperatures seemed to favor the occurrence of dengue fever in the region; however, had a protective effect against hospitalizations due to pneumonia (for individuals 70 years). Lastly, aerosol concentrations were directly related to hospitalization rates caused by pneumonia and asthma, both in elderly individuals and children, especially those aged <1 year. Conclusions: In this study, the synergistic effect of natural and anthropogenic (considering aerosols) climate/environmental variations on population health was assessed. With global climatic changes, climatic standards are changing in many parts of the world. Thus, increasing this knowledge at a regional level is essential to implement preventive actions and reduce the impacts, mainly on the more exposed population

The current state of energy and climate transition presents several challenges that are currently not optimally addressed by planning and design practices. Indeed, cities play a central role in this transition, as they are within the main causes of climate change as well as extremely vulnerable to its effects, such as extreme events. In this context, the disciplines of urban planning and design are a great resource for promoting mitigation and adaptation strategies. However, there is a gap between scientific research on the issues and the actual implementation of the resources, mainly due to the inability of planning tools to address these needs, the difficulty of transforming the existing built environment and the engagement of citizens in these processes. These issues can be translated into four knowledge gaps that can be addressed by the disciplines of planning and design: lack of explicit considerations of resilient pathways, lack of innovative implementation tools, local resistance towards landscape transformations, silo thinking. The goal of the thesis is to identify, develop and evaluate climate-sensitive planning and design strategies, considering the environmental criteria, the urban areas and the people who live in them. The research is practice-oriented and gives directions on how to apply scientific knowledge through practices for a responsive and landscape-inclusive climate-energy transition. Specifically, it aims to combine several challenges and promote holistic procedures balancing adaptation and mitigation strategies as well as to include the concept of landscape in the transition. The proposed methodologies are evidence-based, performance-based and landscape-inclusive, connecting different scales of intervention, disciplinary tools, and practices of planning and design. In other words, the thesis promotes urban regeneration for climate and energy transition through an integrated approach between landscape, city, and buildings. This integrated approach addresses the following dimensions of urban challenges: social, environmental, economic, and health.

This thesis focuses on park planning in Dubai, and how current differences in their socio-spatial access can be alleviated by using regional-vernacular design principles. The thesis uses a mixed method approach that begins with the analysis of parks across the entire city to understand their current access and distribution, and then narrows down to focusing on four micro-case studies,which will serve as sites where improvements could be made. These improvements are inspiredby vernacular design and planning and aim to improve current access. All work originates fromthe author unless otherwise cited.