Development of a mobile application for collecting and mapping personal thermal sensation through citizen-participatory Living LAB

Climate change has intensified urban heat wave issues, particularly in Daegu, South Korea, which experiences the highest number of heat wave days nationally over the past 10 years. This study developed the app “The Warm” utilizing the Living LAB methodology to collect field information at the citizen level.

The app, "The Warm," collects personal information such as gender and age of participants, as well as real-time personal thermal sensation information (on a four-point scale) from participants in the field. Based on the collected individual-level information, a personal thermal sensation prediction map is generated and provided.

The Living LAB was conducted over two years in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, 31 citizens participated in testing and improving the app “The Warm” and establishing operational guidelines for the Living LAB. In 2022, 152 citizens were involved in comprehensive data collection. For the Living LAB, researchers, citizens, and public-private partnership organizations in Daegu collaborated. The Living LAB process included meetings for citizen training, activity monitoring, and result sharing. Citizens using the app “The Warm” collected 4,285 personal thermal sensation data points across Daegu for two years.

Using the personal thermal sensation data collected through the app "The Warm," a heat prediction map for Daegu was developed. The prediction map was developed by analyzing the relationship between personal thermal sensation data and air temperature, green coverage ratio, road coverage ratio, sky view factor, and mean building height.

The results of this study can contribute to collecting high-resolution, accurate field data at the citizen level. Furthermore, an analysis of the relationship between thermal comfort and urban factors was conducted in this study. This study serves as foundational research for future studies into the effectiveness of thermal adaptation strategies, such as providing urban shading network, in areas with thermal discomfort.