Weather in the City: How Design Shapes the Urban Climate

by Sanda Lenzholer (Text by)

Overview

There is plenty of urban architecture whose design fails to take the urban climate properly into account: a beautifully laid-out square where you are nearly blown off your feet, or a modern city apartment that is too hot to sleep in during the summer. Weather in the City explains and illustrates how smart urban design can enhance comfort in the city. The way we experience the urban climate depends on physical and psychological factors dictated by our surroundings. How can spatial planning and urban design influence our experience of the weather? With practical case studies richly illustrated with photographs and diagrams, Weather in the City is both a reference work and a source of inspiration for all those working to enhance the quality of city life—from commissioners and policymakers to students in urban design, landscape architecture and planning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789462081987
Publisher:	nai010 Publishers
Publication date:	08/25/2015
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword 8

Acknowledgements 12

Introduction: Why this Book? 13

1 How We Experience the Microclimate 18

1.1 Physical Factors of Microclimate Experience 20

1.1.1 Experience of Temperature 20

1.1.2 Experience of Wind 23

1.1.3 Other Physical Factors 25

1.2 Psychological Factors of Microclimate Experience: 'Ambiance' 25

2 Factors Determining the Urban Climate 28

2.1 Urban Structure and Temperature Regimes 30

2.1.1 Radiation and Heat 30

2.1.2 Air Temperature 35

2.1.3 Temperature Phenomena Typical for the Urban Environment 36

2.2 Wind in the Urban Environment 37

2.2.1 Local Wind Systems 38

2.2.2 Speed of the Large-Scale Wind Around Cities 41

2.2.3 Typical Wind Patterns in the Urban Environment 42

2.3 Ambiance and Microclimate Experience 51

3 Mapping the Urban Climate at a City Scale 54

3.1 Climatope Maps as Indicators of Temperature 56

3.2 Indicating Wind Problems and Potentials 62

3.3 Urban Climate Maps 65

3.4 Vulnerability to Urban Climate Phenomena 68

4 Planning And Design for the Urban Climate at the City Scale 70

4.1 Reducing Heat Stress 72

4.2 Creating Ventilation between and within Districts 75

4.3 Implementation in Planning Practice 78

5 Mapping the Microclimate 82

5.1 Analyses of Physical Microclimate Experience 84

5.1.1 Shadow Simulations as Indicators of Temperature Experience 85

5.1.2 Educated Guesses about Wind Patterns 87

5.1.3 Wind Tunnel Tests 89

5.1.4 Computer Wind Simulations 90

5.1.5 Computer Simulations for Combined Microclimate Phenomena 92

5.1.6 Measurements of all Microclimate Phenomena 93

5.2 Mapping Psychological Aspects of Microclimate Experience 96

5.2.1 Mental Maps 97

5.2.2 Interviews 98

5.2.3 Observations 100

5.3 Combinations of Analysis Techniques 102

6 Designing for Microclimate Experience 104

6.1 Designing for Physical Temperature Experience 107

6.2 Designing for Physical Wind Experience 109

6.3 Designing for Protection against Precipitation n110

6.4 Designing for Multiple Microclimate Factors 111

6.5 Designing for Psychological Aspects of Microclimate Experience 111

6.6 Implementation of Measures on The Micro-Scale Level 112

6.7 Catalogue of Measures to Influence the Microclimate 114

7 The Future of Urban Climate Responsive Design 214

Index 219

Recommended Literature 221

Photographs and Figures Used in this Book 222

Credits 224

Editorial Reviews

Designers too often ignore the specificities of urban microclimates, leading to unexpected and often deleterious consequences for cities' livability and residents' health. Written by Dutch design professor and urban planning consultant Sanda Lenzholzer, this well-illustrated book remedies the lack of awareness with a combination of design pedagogy and urban meteorological science.

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