People

Staff

Jonathon Taylor

Associate Professor
Urban Physics
Faculty of Built Environment
Tampere University
+358505914794
jonathon.taylor@tuni.fi

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3485-1404

About me

My research focuses on understanding exposures to environmental hazards in the indoor and outdoor built environment, and how we can adapt our cities and buildings to be healthier, more energy efficient, and more resilient to future climates. My areas of expertise are in using building physics simulations, data-driven modelling, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate population-level exposure to heat, cold, air pollution, and moisture damage, for example, and quantifying the health consequences of this exposure. I have a BSc in Biological Sciences from Simon Fraser University, Canada, and a BEng in Geomatic Engineering and PhD in Environmental Building Science, both from University College London, UK.

Responsibilities

I am the leader of the Urban Physics Research Group in the Department of Civil Engineering, where we apply a range of methods to understand the role of our urban built environment on our health and energy consumption. We aim to do impactful research that can support the sustainability transition in cities. You can learn more about the Urban Physics Research Group here , as well as about Urban Physics itself here .

I am currently the lead of the Sustainable Urban Development (SUD) international bachelors degree programme. Teaching responsibilities include Introduction to Sustainable Urban Development, Urban Physics, Fundamentals of GIS, and the SUD Bachelors Thesis and Seminar. I also supervise Masters and PhD students – please get in touch if you are interested in studying with us.

I currently act as the Faculty of the Built Environment TENK research integrity advisor.

Research topics

Examples of the research topics I work on are:

Building physics modelling of indoor environmental quality
Building stock modelling and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Data-driven modelling of urban environments, for example using data from distributed environmental sensors
The Global South, climate adaptation, and the health and climate benefits of the clean energy transition.

Selected publications

Latest publications

Analysing cold-climate urban heat islands using personal weather station data

Taylor, J., Simpson, C. H., Vanhatalo, J., Sohail, H., Brousse, O. & Heaviside, C., 8 huhtik. 2025, julkaisussa: Buildings and Cities.

Tutkimustuotos: Artikkeli › Tieteellinen › vertaisarvioitu

The mortality and associated economic burden of London's summer urban heat island effect: a modelling study

Simpson, C. H., Brousse, O., Taylor, T., Milojevic, A., Grellier, J., Taylor, J., Fleming, L. E., Davies, M. & Heaviside, C., maalisk. 2025, julkaisussa: The Lancet Planetary Health. 9, 3, s. e219-e226

Tutkimustuotos: Artikkeli › Tieteellinen › vertaisarvioitu

Use of a synthetic population to model co-benefits to air quality and health from household fuel emission mitigation policies in Kenya

Brunn, A., Ferguson, L., Gerard, J., Muindi, K., Chowdury, S., Taylor, J. & Milner, J., 2025, julkaisussa: Environmental Research: Health. 3, 2, 19 Sivumäärä

Tutkimustuotos: Artikkeli › Tieteellinen › vertaisarvioitu

A population-level framework to estimate unequal exposure to indoor heat and air pollution

Cole, R., Simpson, C. H., Ferguson, L., Symonds, P., Taylor, J., Heaviside, C., Murage, P., Macintyre, H. L., Hajat, S., Mavrogianni, A. & Davies, M., 30 lokak. 2024, julkaisussa: Buildings and Cities. 5, 1, s. 562–580 19 Sivumäärä

Tutkimustuotos: Artikkeli › Tieteellinen › vertaisarvioitu

Community based monitoring of indoor environments

Viitanen, A.-K., Espinosa Mireles de Villafranca, A. & Taylor, J., 12 maalisk. 2024, Sisäilmastoseminaari 2024. Ahola, M. & Merikari, A. (toim.). SIY SISÄILMATIETO OY, s. 289-294 6 Sivumäärä (SIY raportti; nro 42).

Tutkimustuotos: Konferenssiartikkeli › Ammatillinen

Community-based Monitoring of Urban Environmental Data: Looking forward: citizen science is changing the research landscape

Taylor, J., Viitanen, A.-K. & Espinosa Mireles de Villafranca, A., 20 syysk. 2024, julkaisussa: Buildings and Cities.

Tutkimustuotos: Keskustelupuheenvuoro › Tieteellinen

Cool Roofs Could Be Most Effective at Reducing Outdoor Urban Temperatures in London (United Kingdom) Compared With Other Roof Top and Vegetation Interventions: A Mesoscale Urban Climate Modeling Study

Brousse, O., Simpson, C., Zonato, A., Martilli, A., Taylor, J., Davies, M. & Heaviside, C., 2024, julkaisussa: Geophysical Research Letters. 51, 13, e2024GL109634.

Tutkimustuotos: Artikkeli › Tieteellinen › vertaisarvioitu

Anna-Kaisa Viitanen

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Faculty of Built Environment
Tampere University
+358504091813
anna-kaisa.viitanen@tuni.fi

Alonso Espinosa Mireles de Villafranca

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Faculty of Built Environment
Tampere University
+358504689685
alonso.espinosa@tuni.fi

Elina Siren

Doctoral Researcher
Faculty of Built Environment
Tampere University
+358503516622
elina.siren@tuni.fi

Ruchira Liyanage

Doctoral Researcher
Faculty of Built Environment
Tampere University
ruchira.liyanage@tuni.fi

More information

Selected publications

Liyanage, R. (2024). DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK FOR FORMULATING BUILDING ARCHETYPES FOR FINNISH RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202410299585

Taylor, J., Liyanage, R., Vinha, J., Viitanen, A.-K., Rajaniemi, J., Espinosa Mireles de Villafranca, A., Corredor Ochoa, A., & Laine, M. (2024). Sustainable built environments: Supporting Co-benefits for health and wellbeing. Alusta!. https://www.tuni.fi/alustalehti/2024/09/19/sustainable-built-environments-supporting-co-benefits-for-health-and-wellbeing/

Weerakoon, L. R. T., & Perera, N. G. R. (2021). Vegetation Cover Effects On Outdoor Thermal Comfort Around High-Rise Developments A Case Study Of Havelock City, Colombo, Sri Lanka. DOI: 10.4038/faruj.v8i1.86

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People

Staff

Jonathon Taylor

About me

Responsibilities

Research topics

Analysing cold-climate urban heat islands using personal weather station data

The mortality and associated economic burden of London's summer urban heat island effect: a modelling study

Use of a synthetic population to model co-benefits to air quality and health from household fuel emission mitigation policies in Kenya

A population-level framework to estimate unequal exposure to indoor heat and air pollution

Community based monitoring of indoor environments

Community-based Monitoring of Urban Environmental Data: Looking forward: citizen science is changing the research landscape

Cool Roofs Could Be Most Effective at Reducing Outdoor Urban Temperatures in London (United Kingdom) Compared With Other Roof Top and Vegetation Interventions: A Mesoscale Urban Climate Modeling Study

Finding patterns in crowdsourced PM2.5 low-cost sensor data using data-based methods

Housing Characteristics and Hospital Admissions due to Falls on Stairs: A National Birth Cohort Study

Housing tenure and acute lower respiratory tract infection admissions in two Scottish birth cohorts

Anna-Kaisa Viitanen

Alonso Espinosa Mireles de Villafranca

Elina Siren

Ruchira Liyanage