Global climate change and urban heat islands have generated heat stress in summer, which does harm to people’s health. The outdoor public commercial pedestrianized zone has an important role in people’s daily lives, and the utilization of this space is evaluated by their outdoor thermal comfort and health. Using microclimatic monitoring and numerical simulation in a commercial pedestrianized zone in Tai Zhou, China, this study investigates people’s outdoor thermal comfort in extreme summer heat. The final results provide a comprehensive system for assessing how to improve outdoor human thermal health. Under the guidance of this system, local managers can select the most effective strategy to improve the outdoor thermal environment.

Ling Nan Tian Di block is in Fo Shan city, which is in the hot-summer and warm-winter climate area of China and is a very important scenic spot. A pedestrianized zone aims to provide a commercial and recreational center for tourists. The utilization of it is determined by the outdoor microclimate, which affects not only humans’ thermal sensation but also the commercial value; thus, putting forward the best time of day to visit this region in extreme summer is very necessary. Using the result of this work, tourists can choose the most comfortable time of day with the most suitable thermal conditions to visit this pedestrianized zone. To this end, we conducted field measurements and numerical simulations to analyze thermal sensation. In addition, a field questionnaire survey was utilized to evaluate the thermal comfort range for tourists. The analyzed result shows that the thermal comfort range of tourists is a physiological equivalent temperature (PET) of 22 to 28 °C and the neutral PET is 25 °C. The final thermal calendar shows that the whole commercial zone is within the comfort range after 7:00 p.m. During the daytime, except for the open space without vegetation, the whole region is in the comfort range from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

With the development of the economy in China, the tourism industry has become a form of daily entertainment for citizens. Commercial pedestrianized blocks have been designed as recreational centers for tourists, serving as outdoor public space and scenic spots. The use of these regions is directly determined by the outdoor thermal environment. So far, few studies have been conducted on tourists’ thermal experience in commercial pedestrianized blocks, especially in the hot and humid region of southern China. Using field measurement and numerical simulation of a commercial pedestrianized block in Fo Shan, China, to research tourists’ thermal experience under different conditions, the final results of this study could help to select the most suitable time for tourist travel and help local managers to improve the thermal environment.