Human has been settling near water since ancient times. Through the history, many areas of the waterfront served as an essential resource to support their life (Faggi et al., 2011). As societies near water have grown and culture was developed, seafronts became a functional and aesthetic element in the design process (Hubbard and Hubbard, 1971; Wright, 1928). Today, waterfronts spaces became an essential contribution to citizens’ quality of life (Dong, 2004).

Waterfronts public spaces became the vital component of prosperous coastal cities. They assert the sense of community, civic identity and culture. They lead to an urban environment that is healthy, safe, livable and sustainable. Many waterfront cities implant measure to stimulate economic growth, social development, and improve environmental conditions as well as to enhance competitiveness by taking advantage of their unique cultural and historical resources (Weijia, 2011).

Waterfront is known as the centre of the economic activities since the early days. It has improved the interface between the city and ports since it promotes business in the market of leisure, tourism, culture-, and urban-oriented business activities (Woo, S., Omran, A., Lee, C., & Hanafi, 2016). Furthermore, it contributes to the formation of the city image. Many cities are known for their waterfront landscape characteristics. Some of these are traditional such as London, Venice, and Paris while others are contemporary such as Vancouver, Boston, and Sydney (Weijia, 2011).

Without a clear strategy, adequate public spaces of the waterfront are challenging to accomplish and sustain. In term of urban design, many factors usually considered in the design process of waterfronts such as identity, social impacts, and accessibility, but design principles related to human comfort are less regarded. It is critical for Urban designers to understand this concept and its relationship to outdoor activities and social behaviors.

Designers and users may have different notions of waterfront qualities. Designers may formulate objectives and concepts of waterfront qualities without adequate understanding the user’s needs and preference in term of comfort which encompass aspects deeper than merely visual features. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the user’s perception and satisfaction with waterfront physical attributes to create more human-oriented waterfronts.

Human comfort in this context includes non-physical factors such as climate, acoustic, lighting, and visual comfort while physical factors include edges, floors cape, Urban furniture, and uses and activities (Zaina, et.al, 2015). The link between urban physical setting and human comfort has been evaluated by scholars, planners, and urban designers.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the main impact of urban waterfront design on the user’s satisfaction, taking New Jeddah waterfront as a case study. The research also assesses the user’s perception and satisfaction of comfort in the current waterfront public space. The research concludes urban design principles to enhance the user's comfort with the consideration of climate and culture. The study attempts to answers the following questions: 1) To what extent do the current waterfronts public spaces reposed to user’s needs and comfort? 2) What are the possible passive strategies that could be incorporated to enhance human comfort in these spaces?

To achieve the outlined objectives, a quantitative research method is applied where it best fit the research approach. It gathers comprehensive knowledge of contextual data through engaging the participants in surveys and interviews that are conducted in natural settings. This part focuses on understanding the current quality of user’s experience, preference, and their level of satisfaction regarding the present condition. It also provides data needed that is not available from other resources, such as the behaviour, character, opinion, and knowledge of the public. This approach increases the emphasis on representative citizen participation, who are usually not consulted in planning issues (Steiner, F. R., & Butle, 2007). This approach encourages the creation of community partnership in development projects in KSA.

Waterfront is defined as lands fronting of any form of water, including lakes, oceans, rivers or streams of all sizes Dong, 2004). The Management Act of 1972 defines the term "urban waterfront and port as all developed area that is highly populated and is being used for different purposes such as urban residential, commercial, recreational or shipping. They can be specified at the point where land and water meet within 200 – 300 m from the waterline, within 1-2 km of the land site, and within 20 min walking distance.

Waterfront public space is defined as the publicly accessible outdoor areas designed for human activity, enjoyment, and interaction (Francis, 1987; Gehl, 1987). They are a sequence of spaces and physical setting that facilitate or support the formal and informal activities (Pfeiffer, T., 1980). For this research, the term NJW refers to the public spaces of the New Jeddah Waterfront.

Comfort is defined as a condition of mind reflect a satisfaction with the surrounded environment. According to Carr et (1992), comfort is a prerequisite of successful public spaces and an indicator of the length and time people use the place.

At the beginning of the 1990s, waterfront planning and development was recognized as a field of interest. It became a central topic for many organizations, publications, and conferences. “Waterfront Development” became an area of specialization for members of The American Planning Association (Breen & Rigby, 1994). In 1984, The Architecture Organization published a special issue of waterfronts. In 1991, Landscape architecture dedicated its issue to “new urban waterfront planning” as a field of specialization. Since 1982, waterfront world has published its regular magazine and has held about 18 conferences and workshops on this theme. In the last dedicate, many waterfront conferences have been held around the world and the literature of this field has been growing significantly in past ten years. Specialty courses on the urban waterfront are held by many universities such as Harvard Graduate School of Design and New York University Graduate School of Public Service (Breen & Rigby, 1994). Today, Urban Waterfront development became an interesting focus in professional and academic research from various fields.

Academically, many scholars have contributed to the field by publishing insights and research. Many publications resulted from international conferences. For example, the book titled Revitalizing the Waterfront: International Dimensions of Dockland Redevelopment (1988) illustrates a collection of seminars discussing theoretical frameworks of waterfront development and the changing relationship between port and cities in term of physical, socio-economic and ecological factors. Furthermore, many studies have analyzed features of urban waterfront development. For instance, the book titled Urban Waterside Regeneration: Problems and Prospects analyses the implication of waterfront regeneration in the urban setting focusing on physical context as well as environmental issues (White et al., 1992).

Furthermore, waterfront development became a focus of many international organizations since the 1980s. For example, The Waterfront Center (WFC) founded in 1981 in Washington, DC by Ann Breen and Dick Rigby as a result of their research on waterfronts since 1975. They have published important man work including the books titled Waterfronts: Cities Reclaim Their Edge (1993), and The New Waterfront: A Worldwide Urban Success Story (1996). They focus on analyzing key elements of waterfront developments in a global context highlighting the causes of significant transformations. They discuss waterfront in seven major themes: commercial, historical, recreational, residential, and working waterfronts.

Nowadays, many research centers focus on improving the quality of life by revitalizing waterfronts. One of many is "Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center" (BWRC) which focus on raising awareness about critical issues facing Brooklyn's waterfront following research, teaching and public programming approaches. "Waterfront Research Center" in Seattle, WA is another example, they focus on solving Elliot Bay critical issues.

Waterfront development and redevelopment became a global phenomenon with many areas of interest. Many scholars contribute to this knowledge by providing factors, principles, and guidelines. Academic and practice conference is held around the world is an evidence of this revolutionary trend.

Public spaces of the waterfronts are characterized by the presence of people who have chosen to use them. Users activities in open spaces are divided into necessary activities which occur regardless of the space quality and optional activities which only occur by choice. If these spaces to become peopled, they must fulfil peoples' needs and preference in an attractive and safe environment. In other words, people need to feel physiologically and physically comfortable to stay. According to Carr et (1992), comfort is a prerequisite of successful public spaces and an indicator of the length and time people use the place. It has two main components: Physical and nonphysical.

The physical factors parameters include elements giving every space its character. The nature of every space is embedded in its components that include edges, floorscape, urban furniture, uses and activities, and vehicular circulation (Madanipour, 1996). In his study, Mahmoudi (2012) collected a questionnaire survey to obtain people’s view of the identified attributes. The overall identified physical factors include the following: seating, paving, shelter and canopy, signs, lighting, planting, proportions of space, fountain and sculpture, harmony between architectural styles of different buildings, accessibility, parking space, facilities for disabled people, traffic management, and maintenance and cleaning. His framework identifies physical problems using both qualitative and quantitative techniques, used as a sophisticated measure to examine the livability and physical quality of the space. Furthermore, Layne (2009) discussed the effect of landscape setting of an open public space, and environmental variable can prevent issues and support interactions between diverse eras. Overall, having a good physical environment is viewed as a central point of a usable open space in urban areas.

Parameters that influence the physical characteristics of an urban open space are edges, floorscape, and urban furniture. Edges are the linear components that define the space which include screen walls, building facades, shrubs, trees, and change in floor level, and shorelines (Lynch, 1960). The floorscape consists of the ground surface that covers hard pavement as well as landscape. Floor cover must fulfil the function, comfort, and suitability to the user. Urban furniture is any three-dimensional elements that enhance the space. Some elements are only for decoration while others have a practical function. The urban furniture includes seating, street lighting and water features.

The non-physical factors parameters Outdoor comfort include thermal, visual, and acoustic aspects. (Wissam, 2012). Urban planners usually stress the importance of physical characteristics in open spaces, the role of non-physical factors includes environmental, social, and functional elements. The evaluation of human comfort has attracted growing interest associated with heat stress and climate changes of outdoor areas. These elements need to be considered to enhance the activities and use of the space. An integrated approach aspects related to thermal, acoustic and visual comfort, combined with landscape and functionality, must be considered to obtain comfort of users (Federico Rossi, 2015).

Thermal Comfort can be enhanced by physical design and management strategies. It is greatly influenced by the microclimate, which is often neglected in urban design. Designers have little influence on features affecting the macro scale such as surrounding topographical features including hills and valleys. However, they have an essential influence in modifying the microclimate to make spaces more comfortable and effective (Carmona, 2010). To enhance the thermal condition, the parameters (air temperature, mean radiant température, airspeed, metabolic rate, clothing insulation, relative humidity) can be controlled or modified using urban intervention methods such as cool materials, shading, water elements, green covers, and wind movement.

Jeddah is a Saudi Arabian port city on the Red Sea, is a modern commercial hub and gateway for pilgrimages to the Islamic holy cities Mecca and Medina. It is the economic and tourism capital of the country. It is the second largest city after Riyadh; Its population estimated around 3.4 million (Jeddah Municipality, 2016).

The foundation of the city of Jeddah is dated back to around 3000 years when groups of fishermen used to settle in it after their fishing trips. After that, the tribe of 'Quda'ah' came to Jeddah 2500 years ago and settled in it and was known by it.

The historical transformation of Jeddah was in the era of the third Muslim Caliph Othman Bin Affan (May Allah be Pleased with Him) in 647 AD when he ordered the city to be transformed into a port to welcome pilgrims (Hajjis) coming by sea for the Holy Pilgrimage in Makkah. To this day, Jeddah is the central passage for both sea and air pilgrims as well as those travelling by road (Mostafa, Lobna A., 2017).

Jeddah has grown during the last decades of the 20th Century, which made the city a centre for money and business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a significant and essential port for exporting non-oil related goods as well as importing domestic needs (Jeddah Municipality, 2016).