Urban Design Guidelines for Improvement of Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Tropical Cities

Climate change and rising temperatures are some of the biggest challenges tropical cities face. These cities need to be designed to accommodate high population growth while providing a comfortable thermal environment. In this context, we propose a framework for developing urban design guidelines with a focus on improving thermal comfort in outdoor environments, a concept known as Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC). The framework is based on computing climate variables such as temperature, wind speed, humidity, and others for several urban design strategies at the district scale. Furthermore, we use the spatial occupancy over the course of the day in the district to calculate an overall OTC performance score. Finally, the design strategies are ranked and represented in a three-dimensional space. The strategies are extracted from the body of knowledge of urban planning and design, and adjusted to local status and building codes. The climate variables are computed using numerical climate models, and the OTC performance score is calculated using a statistical risk management model. The guidelines discussed in this paper are limited to passive design strategies such as urban geometry, orientation and vegetation for tropical cities with high density. These guidelines can be used to support architects and urban planners in the early design stages of a new district.