PLACE DIFFERENCES IN HUMAN EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN CITIES: THE CASE OF TEL-AVIV-JAFFA

The paper investigates human exposure to a set of environmental factors—noise, CO, thermal load and social stress—on human sense of discomfort in Mediterranean cities based on the case study of Tel Aviv. A special focus is devoted to differences in human exposure to environmental factors among types of places in the city like streets, parks, shopping and leisure, activity centers and accommodations. The study is based on measurements extracted from sensors located on subjects' bodies and short questionnaires while they had performed their daily routines in the city. The study shows that social stress and noise are the main environmental factors that strain young healthy people in Tel Aviv.
Thermal load strains subjects mainly in winter time during which the subjects were more sensitive to both cold and hot weather in relation to summer time to which they adapted easier due to low variability in weather conditions.
The study also shows that crowded places like indoor and outdoor shopping centers etc. were the more straining types of places while parks and coffee shops were the more relaxing types of places in the city.