The book comprehensively investigates the relationship between critical urban form and fabric parameters and urban microclimate in the high-rise urban environment that prevails in Asian megacities such as Shanghai. It helps readers gain a deeper understanding of climate-responsive urban design strategies and tactics for effectively mitigating the negative impacts of deteriorating urban thermal environments on pedestrian thermal comfort, outdoor air quality and building energy consumption. It also reviews the latest advances in urban climate research, with a focus on the challenges in terms of outdoor space comfort, health, and livability posed by the high-rise and high-density development in emerging Asian megacities, and proposes an integrated framework in response to the pressing need for microclimate research. It then presents a series of studies on high-rise residential and non-residential urban neighborhoods and districts based on instrumented field study, validated numerical simulation, and spatial analysis using a GIS platform. The book includes extensive, valuable experimental data presented in a clear and concise manner. The thermal atlas methodology based on empirical modeling and spatial analysis described is a useful climate-responsive design tool for both urban designer and architects. As such, the book is of particular interest to researchers, professionals, and graduate students in the fields of urban planning and design, building science and urban climatology.

The quality of life of millions of people living in cities could be improved if the form of the city were to evolve in a manner appropriate to its climatic context. Climatically responsive urban design is vital to any notion of sustainability: it enables individual buildings to make use of renewable energy sources for passive heating and cooling, it enhances pedestrian comfort and activity in outdoor spaces, and it may even encourage city dwellers to moderate their dependence on private vehicles. Urban Microclimate bridges the gap between climatology research and applied urban design. It provides architects and urban design professionals with an understanding of how the structure of the built environment at all scales affects microclimatic conditions in the space between buildings, and analyzes the interaction between microclimate and each of the elements of the urban landscape. In the first two sections of the book, the extensive body of work on this subject by climatologists and geographers is presented in the language of architecture and planning professionals. The third section follows each step in the design process, and in part four a critical analysis of selected case study projects provides a demonstration of the complexity of applied urban design. Practitioners will find in this book a useful guide to consult, as they address these key environmental issues in their own work.

​​This book discusses urban microclimate and heat-related risks in urban areas, brought on by the combination of global climate change effects and local modification of climate determined by extensive urbanization such as the ‘Urban heat island’ phenomenon. This matter is relevant to almost all urbanized areas in the world, where the increase of urban population and air temperature is expected to endanger both the overall health of the population and the energy supply for the functioning of urban systems. The book details the inter-relationship between urban morphology, microclimate and building energy performance and presents a multidisciplinary approach that brings together Urban Climatology, Engineering and Architectural knowledge to support the development of reliable models and tools for research and practice. This book is a useful tool for architects and building energy modelers, urban planners and geographers who need a practical guide to realize basic urban microclimate simulation for use in both academic research and planning practice.

Urban Climates is the first full synthesis of modern scientific and applied research on urban climates. The book begins with an outline of what constitutes an urban ecosystem. It develops a comprehensive terminology for the subject using scale and surface classification as key constructs. It explains the physical principles governing the creation of distinct urban climates, such as airflow around buildings, the heat island, precipitation modification and air pollution, and it then illustrates how this knowledge can be applied to moderate the undesirable consequences of urban development and help create more sustainable and resilient cities. With urban climate science now a fully-fledged field, this timely book fulfills the need to bring together the disparate parts of climate research on cities into a coherent framework. It is an ideal resource for students and researchers in fields such as climatology, urban hydrology, air quality, environmental engineering and urban design.

The transformative power of urban design in shaping our experiences within high-rise cities takes center stage in Humanizing the High-Rise City: Podiums, Plazas, Parks, Pedestrian Networks, and Public Art. This captivating exploration delves into the art of turning towering skyscraper cities into vibrant havens that foster human connection, celebrate culture, and build communities. Unveiling the secrets behind the creation of urban spaces, from dynamic plazas that encourage social interaction to tranquil parks that infuse life into steel and glass, the book unfolds a narrative that resonates with the innate rhythms of humanity. Examining 20 major high-rise cities worldwide (including Chicago, New York City, Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore, among others), synthesizing extensive literature, and enriched with over 200 photographs, this book showcases projects seamlessly weaving nature, art, and connectivity into the urban fabric. These endeavors craft environments that enhance well-being and instill a profound sense of belonging amid the challenges of urban density. As the global landscape increasingly tilts toward vertical living, this book serves as a guiding light, illuminating the path to a heightened and enriched experience of high-rise urban living. This book will be useful to practitioners and students of architecture, urban planning, and urban design interested in improving high-rise cities.

Compact living is sustainable living. High-density cities can support closer amenities, encourage reduced trip lengths and the use of public transport and therefore reduce transport energy costs and carbon emissions. High-density planning also helps to control the spread of urban suburbs into open lands, improves efficiency in urban infrastructure and services, and results in environmental improvements that support higher quality of life in cities. Encouraging, even requiring, higher density urban development is a major policy and a central principle of growth management programmes used by planners around the world. However, such density creates design challenges and problems. A collection of experts in each of the related architectural and planning areas examines these environmental and social issues, and argues that high-density cities are a sustainable solution. It will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in sustainable urban development.

A major objective of this monograph is to identify the impact of thermal environment on urban center district. It provides in-depth evaluation and research on the correlation between urban spatial morphology indicator and urban thermal environment. In addition, the distribution characteristics of thermal environment and urban morphology units sample are also evaluated intensively. Furthermore, it analyses from three aspects of urban planning, architecture and landscape respectively and includes 35 concrete measures that could be brought into practice on reducing negative impact of urban thermal environment. Through 500 vivid figures, graphs and diagrams it illustrates the relationship between urban morphology and urban thermal environment. The analysis software employed by the author includes Ecotect, ENVI-met and Ray-man. It intertwines the quantitative research of both thermal environment and urban morphology through in-depth analysis and urban microclimate simulation. It makes a valuable contribution for the research on urban environment and urban morphology.