Urban parks are an important component of urban public green space and a public place where a large number of urban residents choose to conduct outdoor activities. An important factor attracting people to visit and stay in urban parks is its outdoor thermal comfort, which is also an important criterion for evaluating the liability of the urban environment. In this study, through field meteorological monitoring and a questionnaire survey, outdoor thermal comfort of different types of landscape space in urban parks in Chengdu, China was studied in winter and summer. Result indicated that (1) different types of landscape spaces have different thermal comforts, (2) air temperature is the most important factor affecting outdoor thermal comfort; (3) because the thermal sensation judgment of outdoor thermal comfort research in Chengdu area, an ASHRAE seven-sites scale can be used; (4) the neutral temperature ranges of Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) in Chengdu in winter and summer were obtained through research; (5) and UTCI is the best index for evaluating outdoor thermal comfort in Chengdu. These findings provide theoretical benchmarks and technical references for urban planners and landscape designers to optimize outdoor thermal comfort in urban areas to establish a more comfortable and healthy living environment for urban residents.

Traditional settlements have received increasing attention because of China’s rural revitalization. Traditional settlements with excellent thermal comfort in rural areas can attract urban residents, so it is vital to explore the thermal comfort of traditional settlements. For this paper, we studied Linpan settlements, which are scattered traditional settlements that are mainly composed of buildings and trees. Firstly, we visually interpreted Linpan settlements by ArcGIS. A total of 1194 Linpan settlements were classified to obtain the spatial components. The statistical results of Linpan were used in the subsequent experimental design. Then ENVI-met was used to simulate 25 different spatial forms of Linpan obtained by statistical results and orthogonal experiment to explore the most comfortable Linpan layout. The results showed the following: (1) Linpan could improve thermal comfort in both winter and summer. Adjusting the spatial arrangement could maximally increase the mean physiological equivalent temperature (PET) of the whole Linpan area by 1.03 °C in winter and reduce it by 3.02 °C in the summer. (2) At different time points, the influence of different space factors on thermal comfort was also different. The overall significance of each factor on thermal comfort was addressed as follows: vegetation coverage (highly significant) > building number (highly significant) > building form (highly significant) > vegetation distribution (significant), but the building distribution was not significant. (3) The best spatial arrangement scheme was high vegetation coverage, a large number of buildings, tri-courtyard buildings, surrounding vegetation distribution, and surrounding building distribution. The innovation of this paper lies in introduced thermal comfort into the traditional Linpan settlement, extracted spatial features of buildings and vegetation by visual interpretation combined with GIS software, and the fact that we conducted the experimental design of microclimate and thermal comfort based on spatial features. The research results can guide the outdoor thermal environment renewal design of Linpan and other traditional settlements.

Understanding the characteristics and determinants of population distribution is essential for formulating effective policies and strategies, especially in the poverty-stricken mountainous regions. This study investigates the characteristics, evolution (2000–2020), and influencing factors of population distribution in the Liangshan Yi ethnic region, a representative poverty-stricken mountainous region in Southwest China. The results reveal that: (1) Over the past two decades, the spatial pattern of population distribution has remained stable. However, the balance of population distribution has improved, as indicated by the decreasing size of the standard deviation ellipse, reflecting a more even population spread. (2) The population distribution demonstrates significant clustering in town centers, with strong positive correlations, as reflected in Moran’s I index values of 0.732, 0.708, 0.620, 0.556, and 0.554 for the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, respectively. (3) The vertical zonation pattern and the differentiation characteristics in slope and aspect play a significant role in population distribution. Over time, these factors have played an increasingly significant role in shaping the evolution of population distribution. The interaction between natural factors and vegetation is pivotal in the spatiotemporal patterns of population distribution. These factors have directly and indirectly contributed to the persistence of poverty in these mountainous areas by limiting accessibility, resource availability, and economic opportunities. The study’s results provide valuable insights for enhancing population distribution strategies in impoverished mountainous regions and informing policy-making.