ABSTRACT
Metropolitan agglomerations and urban ettlements are the most intensive forms of land use yet devised. In recent years, some of the most drastic alterations to local climate (microclimate) have been associated with them, with consequent impact on the health and qualityof-life of their human inhabitants . At the beginning of this century urban areas represented only 20% of the total human population: in the hundred years since then this fig ure has increased to almost 50%. In fact, current estimates suggest that 42% of the world's population are now urban dwellers, with local variations ranging from as much as 72% on average in more-developed countries, to 34% in some less-developed countries (World Population Reference 1993).
