Altitude, climate variables and people’s length of stay in Ecuador squares

Abstract The time people spend in public space is also considered an indicator of their quality. In fact, facilitating people interaction, environment observation and processing of visual impressions it is a crucial dimension. In this sense, the present study applies the descriptive method to understand the incidence of altitude and climatic variables (dry-bilb temperature, wind speed, relative humidity) over the time people spend in two central squares of the Ecuador with similar functional characteristics, located at 2,575.00 and 37.54 meters above sea level. The results show that the people’s maximum length of stay in the squares is recorded when the climatic variables are within the comfort zone; however, it is not a constant that is repeated in the two places of study, which seems to depend on other factors. Variables such as altitude and length of stay in the squares showed a partial correspondence, with people remaining three hours, which is the maximum time identified in this study, in the place located at a lower altitude.

摘要：人们在公共空间停留的时长也被视为其生活质量的一项衡量指标。事实上，助力人际互动、环境观察与视觉印象处理，是公共空间的核心维度之一。有鉴于此，本研究采用描述性研究方法，探究海拔与气候变量（干球温度、风速、相对湿度）对厄瓜多尔两座功能特征相似的城市中心广场停留时长的影响，这两座广场的海拔分别为2575.00米与37.54米。研究结果显示，当气候变量处于舒适区间时，人们在广场的最长停留时长会达到峰值；但这一规律在两处研究地点并不统一，似乎还受其他因素影响。海拔与广场停留时长仅存在部分相关性：在海拔较低的广场中，人们的最长停留时长为3小时，这也是本研究观测到的最大停留时长。