Photovice Dataset of Citizen Scientist Narratives of Perceived Urban Thermal Hotspots and Coldspots on a Tropical University Campus
Description
This dataset contains geotagged photographs and narrative appraisals collected through a photovoice-based citizen science approach to document perceived urban thermal hotspots and coldspots within a tropical university campus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The dataset was developed to capture subjective thermal experiences and linguistic responses to contrasting campus microclimates under humid tropical conditions. A total of 54 undergraduate students enrolled in the “Global Environmental Changes” course participated as citizen scientists. Using the Timemark mobile application, participants identified and photographed locations they personally perceived as “Hotspots” (thermally stressful environments) and “Coldspots” (restorative, shaded, or biophilic environments). Each photograph was accompanied by a creative title and a detailed narrative appraisal of up to 1,000 characters describing emotional, sensory, cognitive, and environmental perceptions associated with the location. The resulting dataset integrates visual, textual, and spatial information, enabling interdisciplinary analysis across urban climatology, environmental psychology, linguistics, and machine learning. The dataset is particularly suitable for studies involving thermal perception, urban heat stress, affective sentiment analysis, cognitive responses to environmental stressors, natural language processing (NLP), and human-centered climate adaptation research. This dataset supports the development of multi-dimensional frameworks linking subjective thermal experience with built environment characteristics, providing a valuable resource for future research on climate-sensitive urban design, blue-green infrastructure, and thermal resilience in tropical campuses and cities.