Urban Climate Walk Reading
The Urban Climate Walk Reading Tour is a research-led walk that leads diverse audiences—including academics from various disciplines, local authorities, and residents—through a series of streets and public spaces in Reading.
During the walk, participants focus on the city’s changing built form and use their senses (visual, auditory, and thermal) to interpret the urban landscape. The unifying theme of the various stops is energy, encompassing both its natural expressions (temperature, wind, sunshine) and building needs (cooling and heating loads). These elements are explored in the context of how they are interdependently linked at the scale of a city street.
Together, participants explore the impact of building and urban form on the background climate, while also disseminating current thinking around various urban climate effects. The walk offers a unique perspective on Reading’s built environments, demonstrating the dynamic links between built form, climate, energy, and health and well-being across different scales. It provides an opportunity for participants to discuss the quality of urban spaces in terms of physical form, materiality, and social implications.
As an integral component of the broader Urban Climate Walk research, the Reading Tour not only contributes to the dissemination of critical urban climate knowledge but also enhances the invaluable understanding of the city’s potential for sustainable development and resilience.
