SMALL SCALE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE. The environmental impacts within a context of tropical megacities, with a focus on Sao Paulo’s public Schools

Various typologies of greenery and green environments are part of people’s everyday landscape almost everywhere in the world. Even if on different scales and degrees, most humans enjoy and seek some type of contact with greenery, and its importance has been the focus of research for many years. The beneficial impact of large bodies of vegetation, such as the Amazonian Forest, on the world’s health and existence is globally discussed, and evidence has been gathered by the scientific community. In the environmental design field, green elements are a recurring topic, intrinsically associated with our work. Nevertheless, the knowledge of the favourable outcomes of having vegetation around people, often allowed for it to be introduced into urban environments without scrutiny or evaluation. The small-scale vegetation allocation within cities, in particular denser ones, should overall be praised. However, there isn’t an expressive number of studies dedicated to investigating and calculating in depth its positive and perhaps negative repercussions, mainly regarding pollutant particles such as PM2.5 and PM10. Furthermore, in dense urban settlements, air pollution and other environmental risks represent one of the most significant risks to human health, with children and adolescents being heavily affected.

This doctoral research delves into a reasonably novel area of study, exploring the impacts of greenery as an infrastructure of a dense city on reduced-scale applications (Small-scale Green Infrastructure – SGIs). The study is set within a specific microclimatic and urban context, with a focus on tropical megacities using Sao Paulo as a prime example. With a specific focus on children’s health, this research analyses the relationship between architectural elements and small-scale green infrastructure (SGI) within school environments. The aim is to define the most beneficial combination of the green and built elements mentioned before for their health and comfort. The methodology of this doctoral research is based on a multicriteria evaluation that encompasses three main subjects: health, comfort, and well-being. The study of these themes as performance indicators of the architecture and greenery relationship is crucial for providing support to decision-makers within the public school’s context of Sao Paulo.

The outcomes of this research have direct implications for the design and management of public schools in Sao Paulo. The importance of air movement to enhance air quality and shading to enhance thermal comfort is emphasized. The cluster of trees is confirmed as the best SGI for human comfort while being the worst regarding pollutant particle concentration. However, it is also shown that the crowns of the trees are the main issue, highlighting the importance of having taller ones. The living walls are the best-performing vegetation element regarding air pollution, while also enhancing thermal comfort. Additionally, solid boundary walls protecting the site from pollutant sources are shown to be essential in reducing pollution in an area with various types of vegetation. The research also demonstrates how weather conditions can impact air quality. Finally, the guidelines for public schools in Sao Paulo are drafted, defining the best types of vegetation to be used within the open areas. The best morphological organization of those elements are also suggested as policies to be applied in the state.