Outdoor open spaces between university buildings support students' community interactions and academic achievements. However, in hot-humid climate zones, some of these spaces lack activity and experience social withdrawal due to thermal discomfort. This is seen on the University of Basrah campus. To address this, the study aimed to identify the most suitable climate-adaptive design pattern to improve thermal comfort and, in turn, enhance students' social presence in the University of Basrah's neglected, peripheral outdoor campus spaces. A convergent mixed-method case study was applied. First, measurable environmental and social factors were identified from related studies. Next, two open spaces in the Faculty of Engineering were assessed through 389 valid student questionnaires, behavioural observations, and Envi-met simulations to identify the weaker space. Then, using the same software, six scenarios—comprising two tree species and three shading structure patterns—were proposed to improve students' thermal comfort. The results showed that Model 6 (hybrid pattern of timber-louvered canopies and Albizzia Julibrissin trees) yielded the lowest predicted mean vote (PMV) of 0.8–2.46 and lowered the mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) by 5.56°C. It also reduced the sky view factor (SVF) and promoted natural ventilation. These findings demonstrate that integrating tree species and shading structures optimised thermal comfort, which in turn is expected to enhance social presence, confirming the value of urban design informed by thermal and environmental data for the sustainability of public spaces.
Almansor et al. (2026) studied this question.