Impact of Canyon Space Direction on Microclimate and Thermal Comfort in Hot and Humid Balikpapan City

Balikpapan city is situated in a hot and humid climate conditions with high intensity of solar radiation. The plan of moving administrative center to new capital city of Indonesia in East Kalimantan requires the improvement of outdoor city environment, especially Balikpapan city. The comfortable environment includes the outdoor spaces between buildings, especially the canyon spaces. This research analyzes the impact of canyon space in building configuration on the modification of both microclimates on thermal comfort. The microclimate on thermal comfort data was simulated at the height of the receptor set in outdoor canyon space. Air temperature and mean radiant temperature simulation data were compared. The finding emphasizes that the orientation of canyon space toward the source of the solar radiation influences outdoor microclimate and thermal comfort. It is important to consider this finding to strategize the building configurations for a more climatically responsive urban planning in the hot and humid context.