SUSTAINABLE CAMPUS LANDSCAPE PLANNING THROUGH TREE SPATIAL CONFIGURATION: EVIDENCE FROM OUTDOOR MICROCLIMATE AND THERMAL COMFORT STUDIES

Campus environments are intensively used outdoor spaces where thermal comfort has become an increasingly important concern, particularly under climate change and the growing intensity of urban heat island effects. Trees are widely recognized as key landscape elements for microclimate regulation; however, their cooling performance depends not only on their presence, but also on where they are located and how they are spatially arranged. This study systematically reviews the literature to examine how tree location and arrangement influence outdoor microclimatic conditions and human thermal comfort in campus environments. A Systematic Literature Review was conducted using the PRISMA framework, with articles retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. From an initial pool of 120 records, 25 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2015 and 2025 were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The reviewed evidence indicates that strategically positioned trees can reduce air temperature by approximately 2–4°C and lower Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) by 5–15°C. Clustered arrangements generally provide the strongest cooling effect through collective evapotranspiration, linear arrangements are particularly effective along pedestrian corridors, while grid arrangements offer a more even spatial distribution of thermal conditions. The findings also highlight a critical trade-off between dense shading and the maintenance of natural ventilation. Overall, tree location and spatial arrangement emerge as key determinants of outdoor microclimate quality and thermal comfort on campuses. Landscape design strategies that integrate shading, evapotranspiration, and airflow considerations are therefore essential for improving outdoor thermal environments in climate-responsive campus planning.