The Impact of Urban Design Descriptors on Outdoor Thermal Environment: A Literature Review
This paper presents a literature review on urban design indicators addressing the impact of urban geometry and vegetation on the outdoor thermal environment at the pedestrian level, as urban geometry and vegetation have been regarded as the most influential urban design factors that affect outdoor m...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/12/2151 |
| _version_ | 1817992609214234624 |
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| author | Pingying Lin Zhonghua Gou Stephen Siu-Yu Lau Hao Qin |
| author_facet | Pingying Lin Zhonghua Gou Stephen Siu-Yu Lau Hao Qin |
| author_sort | Pingying Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents a literature review on urban design indicators addressing the impact of urban geometry and vegetation on the outdoor thermal environment at the pedestrian level, as urban geometry and vegetation have been regarded as the most influential urban design factors that affect outdoor microclimate. The thermal balance concept is first introduced to elaborate how each component of energy fluxes is affected by the urban built environment, which helps to explore the underlying thermophysical mechanisms of how urban design modifies the outdoor thermal environment. The literature on numerous urban design descriptors addressing urban geometric characteristics is categorized into five groups in this paper according to the design features that the parameters entail, including land use intensity, building form, canyon geometry, space enclosure and descriptive characteristics. The literature on urban vegetation descriptors is reviewed together, followed by the combined effect of urban geometry and vegetation. This paper identifies a series of important urban design parameters and shows that the impact of design parameters on thermal environment varies with time, season, local climate and urban contexts. Contradictory impacts often occur between daytime and nighttime, or different seasons, which requests trade-offs to be achieved when proposing design strategies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T01:29:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6bc68bb681fc4336b4d2434abcb3b561 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T01:29:05Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-6bc68bb681fc4336b4d2434abcb3b5612022-12-22T02:20:17ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732017-12-011012215110.3390/en10122151en10122151The Impact of Urban Design Descriptors on Outdoor Thermal Environment: A Literature ReviewPingying Lin0Zhonghua Gou1Stephen Siu-Yu Lau2Hao Qin3Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaCities Research Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4215, AustraliaDepartment of Architecture, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117566, SingaporeDepartment of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaThis paper presents a literature review on urban design indicators addressing the impact of urban geometry and vegetation on the outdoor thermal environment at the pedestrian level, as urban geometry and vegetation have been regarded as the most influential urban design factors that affect outdoor microclimate. The thermal balance concept is first introduced to elaborate how each component of energy fluxes is affected by the urban built environment, which helps to explore the underlying thermophysical mechanisms of how urban design modifies the outdoor thermal environment. The literature on numerous urban design descriptors addressing urban geometric characteristics is categorized into five groups in this paper according to the design features that the parameters entail, including land use intensity, building form, canyon geometry, space enclosure and descriptive characteristics. The literature on urban vegetation descriptors is reviewed together, followed by the combined effect of urban geometry and vegetation. This paper identifies a series of important urban design parameters and shows that the impact of design parameters on thermal environment varies with time, season, local climate and urban contexts. Contradictory impacts often occur between daytime and nighttime, or different seasons, which requests trade-offs to be achieved when proposing design strategies.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/12/2151outdoor thermal environmenturban microclimateurban heat island (UHI)urban geometryvegetationurban designthermal balance |
| spellingShingle | Pingying Lin Zhonghua Gou Stephen Siu-Yu Lau Hao Qin The Impact of Urban Design Descriptors on Outdoor Thermal Environment: A Literature Review Energies outdoor thermal environment urban microclimate urban heat island (UHI) urban geometry vegetation urban design thermal balance |
| title | The Impact of Urban Design Descriptors on Outdoor Thermal Environment: A Literature Review |
| title_full | The Impact of Urban Design Descriptors on Outdoor Thermal Environment: A Literature Review |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Urban Design Descriptors on Outdoor Thermal Environment: A Literature Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Urban Design Descriptors on Outdoor Thermal Environment: A Literature Review |
| title_short | The Impact of Urban Design Descriptors on Outdoor Thermal Environment: A Literature Review |
| title_sort | impact of urban design descriptors on outdoor thermal environment a literature review |
| topic | outdoor thermal environment urban microclimate urban heat island (UHI) urban geometry vegetation urban design thermal balance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/12/2151 |
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