Unpleasant Pedestrian Wind Conditions Around Buildings

Wind velocity closed to the earth surface is quite close to zero and it increases with increase in height. However, construction of tall buildings in a locality of low-rise buildings alters the street level wind environment. The wind which strikes tall building surface get deflected towards the ground causing high speed winds on the windward side as well as near the corners of the buildings at street / pedestrian level. This leads to discomfort to the pedestrian walking and also to the cyclists and two wheeler drivers. This paper describes the comfort criteria for pedestrians within a built environment and also enumerates the recent research work done in this area.