Design for Mitigating Urban Heat Island: Proposal of a Parametric Model

Abstract

Urban areas dramatically affect the microclimatic conditions of cities, and induce the ‘Urban Heat Island’ (UHI) effect, which generates many undesirable conditions in the living environment. In recent years, several studies have been examined a strong correlation between the morphology of urban areas and the development of heat island intensity. Then the increasing need for climate responsive design approaches calls for the development of new methodical approaches and tools to control the planned (trans)formation of the urban fabrics. Computational modelling techniques, in this context, suggest relevant methodologies to provide an evidence-based design approach to the issue. This research, in this regard, aims to propose a parametric model for analyzing the key morphological components of urban tissues with regards to the UHI intensity on the basis of ‘Sky View Factor’ (SVF) while testing the alternatives in generative manner. The proposed (parametric) model, therefore, stands on the close-correlation between the algorithmic simulation based on the selected parameters and morphological analysis. By the model, SVF values of the different building settings are calculated with reference to the basic building codes of the development planning system in Turkey (i.e. FAR, building height and setback) in an actual context. Then the proposed model is tested in the case of one of the transformation areas in Ankara, Turkey. Eventually, a methodical framework is aimed for a climate responsive urban design process to mitigate urban heat island.