The research being undertaken seeks to achieve a better understanding of the richness of microclimatic characteristics in outdoor urban spaces, and the comfort implications for the people using them. The underlying hypothesis is that these conditions influence people's behaviour and usage of outdoor spaces. The initial results demonstrate that a purely physiological approach is inadequate in characterising comfort conditions outdoors, and an understanding of the dynamic human parameter is necessary in designing spaces for public use. The thermal environment is indeed of prime importance influencing people's use of these spaces, but psychological adaptation (available choice, environmental stimulation, thermal history, memory effect, expectations) is also of great importance in such spaces that present few constraints. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.