Citizen Science-Based Evaluation of Urban Thermal Comfort: Evidence from Public Spaces in Urla, İzmir

Climate change is intensifying heat-related risks in Mediterranean urban environments, increasing the need for pedestrian-scale approaches that combine spatial diagnostics with lived thermal experience. The pilot study develops a three-layer diagnostic framework for assessing outdoor thermal comfort in the central neighbourhoods of Urla, İzmir, Türkiye. The framework integrates UMEP-SOLWEIG microclimatic modelling, citizen science field measurements and structured thermal perception diaries. First, Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) were modelled for 24 November 2023 and used as spatial diagnostic layers to identify three pilot areas with distinct urban morphologies. Second, an independent citizen science thermal walk campaign was conducted on 5 November 2025, during which 12 volunteers recorded in situ air temperature and relative humidity at predefined measurement points. Third, participants completed thermal diaries based on ASHRAE Standard 55 to document thermal sensation, comfort, preference, acceptability and adaptive responses. The modelling and fieldwork components were not designed as same-day validation datasets but as complementary layers for interpreting spatial thermal patterns and perceived thermal conditions. The results show that modelled PET values were relatively homogeneous across the three areas, while field-measured air temperature and subjective thermal responses varied more clearly at the pedestrian scale. These differences suggest that surface conditions, shading, spatial openness and user perception may jointly shape outdoor thermal experience, although the findings should be interpreted as descriptive tendencies due to the single autumn fieldwork session and small sample size. The study contributes a cautious, repeatable pilot framework for linking spatial screening, citizen-generated microclimatic data and structured perception evidence in climate-responsive urban design and local climate governance.