Climate and urban form

Abstract

Creation of living environments has always been led by strong ideas guided by social or environmental objectives. Thus, urban form has in the past, for example, been influenced by safety, order, hygiene and health. During the second half of the twentieth century regeneration of cities has often been guided by notions of local character or genius loci, as a reaction to the destruction and brutal transformation following the Second World War. Climate change and potential higher temperatures have increased concerns about urban heat island effect, which is now probably the single most important factor to consider in the design of cities. This concern, however, should not overtake the need to also create places that are attractive to live in. Urban morphology has proved a successful approach to analyse the characteristics of urban environments and in certain cases to inform urban design guidance; this article will explore the possibility and potential of using morphological techniques to identify the key factors to take into consideration that influence microclimate in cities and inform urban design to provide a maximum cooling effect. This would help to create spaces that are more comfortable for residents. This tentative exploration was initiated as part of the author's work on a case study related to an ongoing research project entitled Urban Rivers and Sustainable Living Agenda (URSULA, www.ursula.ac.uk). Hypothetical parameters related to urban morphology are put forward to analyse the climate performance of different urban forms of a riverside location in Sheffield and the micro-climate data collected there. This will contribute to the ongoing research to identify which urban morphology characteristics have the most significant impact on thermal comfort and how they could be manipulated to mitigate the urban heat island effect.