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Located 30 km inland from Lebanon’s coast, The Beqaa Valley (or Beqaa Plains) is considered the agricultural backbone of the country. The Beqaa’s built geographies were shaped by the political and economic hierarchies established by the Roman and Ottoman Empires and revised by the French Mandate. Local and regional economic hardships in the last six decades have led the Beqaa to cycle through periods of decline and recovery, with quick introductions of infrastructural technologies, spurts of loosely regulated building development, and hasty innovations in industrial activity. In this vein, ‘reflexive realism’ concepts of risk regime, logic of production, topographical fragmentation, and internal connectivity, are useful to examine how towns and cities in the Beqaa developed, deteriorated, and adjusted. However, spatial evidence that would inform such inquiries in Rayak, Beqaa, is far from similar to evidence observed in Beirut. Urban morphology research techniques combined with the concept of vernacular architecture can help decode the layers and uses of the built environment. This article introduces a mapping workflow that typologizes built fabrics using five morphological criteria (streets, density, open space, architectural character, and land use) to construct a spatial narrative that can begin characterizing the nature of the Beqaa’s cities and towns.

Urban sprawl has become a concern in development because of its negative impact on sustainable development. Such a special trend is apparent in the transformation of a peri-urban area of Sinduadi Village that is directly affected by the city of Yogyakarta. The village is most likely affected by the urban sprawl phenomenon in the city of Yogyakarta, especially on the morphological aspect of the urban morphology. This study aims to analyze the urban morphology in the Sinduadi Village in 2021 as a result of the urban sprawl of Yogyakarta City. Using quantitative methods, this research is based on a primary data of obtained from field surveys through probability sampling method. The research data came from image interpretation and attribute data processing using ArcGIS 10.3 Software. Secondary data was obtained through Sentinel 2A Imagery while primary data was The data analysis used in this research is quantitative descriptive analysis and spatial analysis using maps. The analysis of the morphological form of the city is carried out by analysis of overlapping maps. This research found that the morphology of the city in the Sinduadi Village in 2021 is linear based on the center of the area on Magelang street This marked by activities in the center of the area are dominated by commercial activities, namely, trade and service. Therefore, regional needs can be accommodated. The center of the area has a high building density (BCR>70%). High density residential land surrounds the center of the area and its development follows a grid and spinal road network pattern. These findings show that Sinduadi village has experienced urban sprawl marked by development trend that trespasses its under bounded city.

Based on the urban morphology theory of the Conzen School and the actual situation of the Tangjiawan Ancient Town, a morphological process analysis of the Tangjiawan Ancient Town was conducted. The end result is a visualization of the process of urban form evolution. The first objective is to describe the morphological framework of Tangjiawan Ancient Town and the morphological changes that occurred during its development. The current urban landscape is divided into units by superimposing morphological units, building types, and land use. The results of the division also reflect the morphological development, structure, and compositional characteristics of the ancient city of Tangjiawan. Using Tangjiawan Ancient Town in Zhuhai city as an example, on-site research, historical evidence, urban morphology analysis methods, and interviews were used to elaborate and analyze the spatial structure and evolution process of traditional ancient towns in South China. In particular, morphological units, building types, and land use are included. The morphological map of the Tangjiawan ancient town is inconsistent with the current economic-oriented development of ancient town planning. This shows that current planning is less concerned with the physical form of architectural heritage, which may lead to further damage to the landscape of the ancient town. This study provides a strong reference for the follow-up planning of ancient town protection of the same type from the perspective of morphology and area and provides ideas for the subsequent preparation of protection plans.

Examining the morphological evolution of ancient Jiande County (JD) over time, our research adopts a diachronic perspective to explore county-level spatial planning and its correlations with local governance during the feudal and republican eras. Utilizing historical records, including chronicles, geo-maps, and remote sensing images, to reconstruct urban ground plans, our findings unveil a historical shift in administrative management within the ancient Yanzhou region (YZ). In the Song Dynasty, feudal authority was distinctly manifested through a spatial hierarchy, diminishing in influence during the Ming-Qing Dynasty. In contemporary times, Meicheng Town (the ancient Jiande County) has departed from traditional urban layouts, relinquishing its central position in the local administrative hierarchy. JD’s historic transition in county-level urban planning and local governance paradigms provides evidence for examing its future development trajectories.

ABSTRACTThe United Nations has proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which SDG11 aims to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. This is in line with Urban Vitality's objectives. This study proposes a quantitative framework to evaluate the impact of urban morphology on urban vitality. In this framework, a proxy that is more reflective of economic and human activities is proposed for depicting urban vitality based on geographic big data; then we use a Multi–scale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) regression considering spatial heterogeneity to analyze the different effects of urban form on urban vitality. Taking the Beijing Sixth Ring Road area as the study region, the results indicate that tall, large–area, multi–functional buildings have a significantly positive impact on urban vitality. These areas exhibit single–function buildings and high levels of greenery, leading to inefficient space utilization. Increasing road network density, as well as the density of transportation and public facilities, also positively influences urban vitality. However, commercial density has a negative impact on workday vitality. Furthermore, excessive green space density, a high proportion of the largest green patches, and complex green space borders all contribute to a reduction in urban vitality.

The present study investigates the dynamic evolution characteristics of urban spatial morphology by analyzing real road network data from 2000, 2010, and 2020, along with nighttime lighting data employing spatial analysis methods and spatial syntax models. Accordingly, two separate dimensions of urban morphology: internal and external, are covered. First, the integration and synergy of interior morphology features are analyzed using spatial syntactic modeling. Subsequently, the spatial compactness, fractal dimension, and level of center of gravity shift of the city are assessed by combining the nighttime lighting data with the earlier dataset. This analysis facilitated the deep exploration of the spatiotemporal evolution of the city's external morphology. Building upon this foundation, the interaction between the "internal and external" domains was analyzed further. The main findings of the study reveal a synchronous pattern of urban expansion throughout the evolution of urban spatial morphology. Furthermore, the urban form was observed to undergo a progressive transformation, transitioning from a "single core" morphology to a "primary and secondary double core" morphology. Over time, this development progressed and evolved into a "belt-like multi-core" structure. Additionally, the coupling characteristics further validate the relationship between the structure of the road network and the urban morphology in river valley-type cities. In particular, accessibility of dense and horizontally distributed transportation network was found to significantly influence the spatial development of these cities. As observed, the findings provides valuable insights into understanding the characteristics of internal and external associations regarding urban spatial patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting urban morphology based on local attributes is an important issue in urban science research. The deep generative models represented by generative adversarial network (GAN) models have achieved impressive results in this area. However, in such methods, the urban morphology is assumed to follow a specific probability distribution and be able to directly approximate the distribution via GAN models, which is not a realistic strategy. As demonstrated by the score-based model, a better strategy is to learn the gradient of the probability distribution and implicitly approximate the distribution. Therefore, in this paper, an urban morphology prediction method based on the conditional diffusion model is proposed. Implementing this approach results in the decomposition of the attribute-based urban morphology prediction task into two subproblems: estimating the gradient of the conditional distribution, and gradient-based sampling. During the training stage, the gradient of the conditional distribution is approximated by using a conditional diffusion model to predict the noise added to the original urban morphology. In the generation stage, the corresponding conditional distribution is parameterized based on the noise predicted by the conditional diffusion model, and the final prediction result is generated through iterative sampling. The experimental results showed that compared with GAN-based methods, our method demonstrated improvements of 5.5%, 5.9%, and 13.2% in the metrics of low-level pixel features, shallow structural features, and deep structural features, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat islands will occur if city neighborhoods contain insufficient green spaces to create a comfortable environment, and residents' health will be adversely affected. Current satellite imagery can only effectively identify large-scale green spaces and cannot capture street trees or potted plants within three-dimensional building spaces. In this study, we used a deep convolutional neural network semantic segmentation model on Google Street View to extract environmental features at the neighborhood level in Taipei City, Taiwan, including the green vegetation index (GVI), building view factor, and sky view factor. Monthly temperature data from 2018 to 2021 with a 0.01° spatial resolution were used. We applied a linear mixed-effects model and geographically weighted regression to explore the association between pedestrian-level green spaces and ambient temperature, controlling for seasons, land use information, and traffic volume. Their results indicated that a higher GVI was significantly associated with lower ambient temperatures and temperature differences. Locations with higher traffic flows or specific land uses, such as religious or governmental, are associated with higher ambient temperatures. In conclusion, the GVI from street-view imagery at the community level can improve the understanding of urban green spaces and evaluate their effects in association with other social and environmental indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses a crucial gap in understanding the impact of urban morphologies on the canopy urban heat islands (CUHI) effect. The selection of reference stations lacks a unified standard, and their surface air temperature (SAT) sequences are also inevitably influenced by urbanization. However, synchronous observational data from relocated meteorological stations could provide high-quality sample data for studying CUHI. Utilizing remote sensing techniques, the findings of this paper revealed that the observation environment of stations after relocation exhibited remarkable representativeness, with their observation sequences accurately reflecting the local climatic background. The differences in synchronized observation sequences could characterize the CUHI intensity (CUHII). Among the various factors, land use parameters and landscape parameters played particularly significant roles. Furthermore, the fitting performance of the random forest (RF) model for both training and testing data was significantly superior to that of the linear model and support vector regression (SVR) model. Additionally, the influence of local circulation on CUHI could not be overlooked. The mechanisms by which urban morphologies affect CUHII under different circulation backgrounds deserve further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of Latin American intermediate cities has left irregular and discontinuous occupation patterns in their peripheral territories. In appearance, the configurations of the urban edges do not have relevant differences. In fact, each morphological structure is heterogeneous and has its own behaviors, different occupation motivations, and diverse resulting consolidated models. In Cuenca, Ecuador, these diffuse zones between the urban and rural limits are marked by segregation dynamics and dependence on the consolidated center and have the lowest quality-of-life indexes in the city. In this context, the objective of the research was to find a possible relationship between the types of peripheral morphologies and the levels of urban habitability of four city urban centers, using a quantitative methodological design with a two-stage correlational scope. Initially, urban morphologies were classified, and the habitability levels were rated separately, applying independent instruments. Then, the results were cross-checked to describe possible links between variables. The findings highlight significant disparities in habitability between conurbations and define an apparent direct correlation between the two dimensions of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat island assessment is of paramount importance when monitoring microclimate changes, increased heat stress, mortality and energy consumption. Simply analysing land surface temperature patterns for human comfort and health assessment is often inadequate. In this study, we attempt to resolve this inadequacy with ambient temperature modelling from multiple surface characteristics for a tropical megacity. A 336 datapoint‐based multilinear regression model was formulated to predict the maximum summer air temperature with a mean absolute error of 0.694°C. Specific locations of critical thermal environments were demarcated with Getis‐Ord statistic. Based on our results, extreme hotspots covered 10.53 per cent of the city on a daily basis at 99 per cent confidence level. The application of an outdoor thermal comfort index highlighted the existence of very strong heat stress zones over 14.67 per cent of the study area. The air temperature hotspots were verified with intra‐urban variation in carbon sequestration. This environmental parameter was used to strengthen the observed results since, carbon sequestration directly links urbanization with degradation of thermal environments. Further, five urban morphological parameters were analysed to conclude that building density and height were the most significant urban design factors leading to increased air temperature. Simultaneous local climate zone mapping depicted that heat islands were dominated by mid and high‐rise built‐up areas, of which 68.44 km2 of that area is suitable for vertical and roof gardening. Another 33.29 km of road stretch was delineated within low‐rise built‐up areas with scope for green landscaping to improve urban sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban spaces are exposed to morphological transformations due to social, functional, political and technological factors change over time. Population growth, functional changes in city centers, newly developed residential areas, development of new CBD, urban transformations and economic reasons can be listed as the main factors that play a role in the transformation of urban centers. These factors cause changes in both functional and social structure of the city centers and the physical structure. Hence, the main purpose of study is to analyze the morphological transformation of city centers over time. In this context, Gazi Street and its surroundings which is the most important line of city center of Elazig were chosen as the study area. It is aimed to compare the area's morphological character between 1957 -58 and its current character by analyzing with the Conzenian method. The street patterns of the area from past to present, island-plot patterns, buildingplot relations, land uses and solid void were analyzed and compared. As a result of the study, the significant changes are in land use, building typology and building - parcel relations. It is seen that, the main causes of the morphological and functional transformations depend on population growth and plan decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of streetscape in enhancing users' sense of urban heritage in cities. Moreover, it is a leading player in improving tourism and trade, which drives the city's economy. Muharraq is located in northern-east Bahrain. The heritage areas of Muharraq have been well known for their culture, heritage and trade since globalization. Muharraq's urban morphology dramatically changed, distorting its historical core despite early modern planning's meticulous consideration of social coherence and historical significance. Unfortunately, in most projects of heritage areas of Muharraq, streets lack appropriate designs that accurately highlight the sense of heritage and the vital commercial activities and users' needs in heritage zones. Therefore, a comprehensive streetscape design concept that reflects the local heritage of Muharraq is needed more. Sheikh Isa Street is one of the main streets inside the heritage areas of Muharraq and was selected as a pilot study to examine the hypnosis that the appropriate streetscape will positively impact and enhance the visual seen and consequently improve the users' sense in heritage areas of Muharraq. This study aims to comprehend the essential urban design, streetscape elements and heritage preservation that are primary to achieve a sense of heritage that simultaneously respects the heritage of the street and emphasizes the importance of improving the heritage ambiance and that meets BACA and local municipality goals. In order to achieve the objective of the study, a mixed methodology was adopted to comprehend the research problem better. The qualitative method includes in-depth interviews, observations and site visits and the quantitative method includes using the QGS software. The findings show that the street needs better urban imageability, which has negatively impacted the sense of heritage, which is lost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of New Architecture is the property of New Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Energy demand fluctuations due to low probability high impact (LPHI) micro-climatic events such as urban heat island effect (UHI) and heatwaves, pose significant challenges for urban infrastructure, particularly within urban built-clusters. Mapping short term load forecasting (STLF) of buildings in urban micro-climatic setting (UMS) is obscured by the complex interplay of surrounding morphology, micro-climate and inter-building energy dynamics. Conventional urban building energy modelling (UBEM) approaches to provide quantitative insights about building energy consumption often neglect the synergistic impacts of micro-climate and urban morphology in short temporal scale. Reduced order modelling, unavailability of rich urban datasets such as building key performance indicators for building archetypes-characterization, limit the inter-building energy dynamics consideration into UBEMs. In addition, mismatch of resolutions of spatio–temporal datasets (meso to micro scale transition), LPHI events extent prediction around UMS as well as its accurate quantitative inclusion in UBEM input organization step pose another degree of limitations. This review aims to direct attention towards an integrated-UBEM (i-UBEM) framework to capture the building load fluctuation over multi-scale spatio–temporal scenario. It highlights usage of emerging data-driven hybrid approaches, after systematically analysing developments and limitations of recent physical, data-driven artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI-ML) based modelling approaches. It also discusses the potential integration of google earth engine (GEE)-cloud computing platform in UBEM input organization step to (i) map the land surface temperature (LST) data (quantitative attribute implying LPHI event occurrence), (ii) manage and pre-process high-resolution spatio–temporal UBEM input-datasets. Further the potential of digital twin, central structed data models to integrate along UBEM workflow to reduce uncertainties related to building archetype characterizations is explored. It has also found that a trade-off between high-fidelity baseline simulation models and computationally efficient platform support or co-simulation platform integration is essential to capture LPHI induced inter-building energy dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biotope map provides ecological and spatial information that reflects the natural and ecological features and values of a city. In South Korea, efforts have been made to create a map that includes grades based on evaluating the ecological value of a specific surface space. However, plans for applications have not been established, except for development restrictions or regulations for biotopes with high ecological value ratings. The aim of this study was to promote environmentally friendly and sustainable urban management through ecological land use management for all biotope types that are influenced by anthropogenic land use. Strategies for maintenance, protection, recovery, improvement, creation, and reduction based on ecological restoration principles were set as management goals. To achieve these management goals, evaluation items and indicators were suggested for minor-classification types and applied to Dongducheon City. Management strategies were suggested for target sites based on grades and thematic maps of biotope types to be utilized, such as urban ecological axes, river naturality restoration, and wetland and forest preservation. These findings support sustainable and environmentally friendly urban development by providing fundamental data for ecological and environmental management, including the preservation and restoration of natural environments and the creation of urban ecological networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to track the evolution of urban morphology studies, focusing on a graphical understanding of transformation phenomena in historical and contemporary city fabrics. It points out similarities in urban morphology studies by authors like Aldo Rossi, Carlo Oswald W. Ungers, Hans Kollhoff, Saverio Muratori, Gianfranco Caniggia, and Giancarlo de Carlo. These studies developed within a supportive cultural environment, aligning with analogical procedures and anticipating the contemporary concept of urban acupuncture. Urban acupuncture denotes episodic and locally impactful interventions countering grand, self-celebratory architectural projects. These interventions are promoted both by liberal and capitalist culture as well as by socialist-inspired culture. Lastly, these interventions, promoted by various cultural backgrounds, highlight the multi-scale nature of urban morphology studies and urban acupuncture projects. Each change in form corresponds to a morphological adaptation and a redefinition of urban rules and grammar usable in projects with territorial significance. Today, enhanced by digital tools, these studies confirm insights and syntheses, presenting urban acupuncture interventions in real-time socio-economic flows and dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the spatiotemporal evolution of urban landscapes in 19 Chinese historic water towns in the northern Zhejiang plain. Utilising historical maps and remote sensing images, we derived 2-D morphological patterns from town ground plans in 1918, 1969, 2000, and 2021 to represent urban landscape fractions (buildings, lands, and waters). Morphology-based landscape metrics reveal three distinct periods of urban landscape dynamics over the past century: stabilisation (1918–1969), accelerated growth (1969–2000), and high-speed growth (2000–2021). Our findings present a diminishing role of rivers in shaping land fragments and urban riverscapes, behind which is the weakening conventional water-human relationship during water towns' modern urbanisation. The results offer insights into shifting water town landscape patterns and regional landscape heterogeneity, prompting further considerations of hydrology-oriented urban design and planning to conserve historic urban landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living convenience in public service facilities has attracted significant attention as a crucial indicator of urban development and quality improvement. However, the performance of plot patterns—a fundamental unit for precise control when measuring urban quality—influencing living convenience requires in-depth exploration. This study integrates multiple urban datasets with quantitative urban morphology methods to investigate the impact of various plot pattern features on living convenience. Specifically, we investigate the Inner Ring area of Shanghai as an empirical case. The assessment considers the diverse effects of facilities at different distances, accounting for the life radiuses of both older individuals and the general population. Additionally, the analysis of plot patterns includes planar and three-dimensional aspects, controlling key variables such as road network accessibility and centrality. The results indicate that, for small-scale plots, shape has a strong impact, while, for large-scale plots, the division and construction intensity within a block has a stronger influence. Furthermore, plots of different area types have different recommended construction intensities. Notably, for large-scale blocks, it is advisable to maintain a building density of around 0.3. In short, this study contributes to human-centered planning by providing targeted recommendations to address the existing deficiencies in plot morphology regulation and control from the perspective of quantitative urban morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the Ottoman Period urban fabric of Silifke, a crucial historical town in Turkey. The aim of this paper is to develop a research framework for the transfer of cultural heritage and cultural continuity in multi-layered historical cities. In this context, investigating the level of sociocultural transition and physical permeability between layers is the main problem of the article. The scope of the study consists of an approximately 1.5 km2 (150 hectares) area within the boundaries of the 3rd Degree archaeological site determined in 1995 by the Adana Cultural and Natural Heritage Conservation Regional Board. In the case area, there are building remains and 58 registered buildings, 40 of which were built during the Ottoman Period. The findings and evaluations were examined in three parts: the periods before the Ottoman Period, the Ottoman Period, and the Republican Period. Analyses were developed independently or overlapped from archive documents such as the Presidential Ottoman Archive (BOA), provincial yearbooks, engravings of travelers, photographs, aerial photographs of different years, current maps, zoning plans, and conservation plans. Then, we made descriptions and inferences about urban change/transformation, which is affected by the political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors of the town and will shape the future change/transformation and management of the town. The ultimate goal is to set up a basis for the Silifke town center that will guide future interventions and design and planning policies for cultural continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research simultaneously examining building energy consumption and outdoor thermal comfort within urban environments remains limited. Few studies have delved into the sensitivity of design parameters based on building energy consumption and outdoor thermal comfort. The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlations between urban morphological design parameters and performance indicators, focusing on building energy consumption and outdoor thermal comfort (UTCI), across different urban block layouts in hot-humid regions, like Guangzhou. By establishing six fundamental morphological models—three individual unit layouts and three group layouts—the research explores both control and descriptive parameters through extensive simulation studies. Scatter plot visualizations provide insights into the impacts of various design parameters on energy consumption and UTCI, facilitating a comprehensive analysis of trends and quantitative relationships. Additionally, the study conducts sensitivity analyses on design parameters under different layout conditions to highlight their influences on target performance indicators. The findings reveal common trends, such as the significant impacts of plan dimensions and the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) on energy efficiency and outdoor comfort, as well as differential patterns, such as the varying sensitivities of the Shape Factor (S/V) and the Sky View Factor (SVF), across individual and collective layouts. Ultimately, this study offers a nuanced understanding of urban block morphology's role in creating sustainable, comfortable, and energy-efficient urban environments, providing valuable guidelines for urban form design in hot-humid climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban buildings are an important part of urban morphology, and building height has an important impact on the three-dimensional spatial morphology of cities. At present, research on the two-dimensional morphology of cities is relatively abundant, but there are fewer studies on the characteristics of the three-dimensional undulating morphology of cities and their spatial distribution patterns, and thus knowledge of the degree of utilization of the airspace above the city and its developmental pattern is still relatively lacking.Based on the multi-scale urban agglomeration, the landscape pattern is converted from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, and the overall spatial differentiation can be analyzed more intuitively. The purpose of this paper is to explore the three-dimensional spatial differentiation law of urban architectural landscape pattern. Through in-depth spatial analysis of the architectural landscape in urban areas, it is found that the landscape patterns in different areas show significant differences, and the interrelationship between them and the urban landscape pattern is revealed through the study of three-dimensional characteristics of urban buildings, such as height, density, form and layout. It is found that the different characteristics of urban buildings have a significant impact on the landscape pattern, which leads to the differentiation of urban space. This study provides more comprehensive spatial information for urban planning, contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of urban architectural landscapes, and provides a scientific basis for future urban design and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban ambient environment is directly responsible for the health conditions of millions of people. Comfortable living space is a significant aspect that urban policymakers need to address for sustainable planning. There is still a notable lack of studies that link the spatial profile of urban climate with city-specific built-up settings while assessing the vulnerability of the city population. Geospatial approaches can be beneficial in evaluating patterns of thermal discomfort and strategizing its mitigation. This study attempts to provide a thorough remote sensing framework to analyze the summer magnitude of thermal discomfort for a city in a tropical hot and humid climate. Spatial profiles of dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature and relative humidity were prepared for this purpose. A simultaneous assessment of various discomfort indices indicated the presence of moderate to strong heat stress to a vast extent within the study area. The central business district (CBD) of the city indicated a 'danger' level of heat disorder for outdoor exposure cases. Nearly 0.69 million people were vulnerable to a moderate threat from humid heat stress, and around 0.21 million citizens faced strong heat stress. Combing city morphology in the study showed that mid-rise buildings had the maximum contribution in terms of thermal discomfort. City areas with built-up cover of more than 68%, along with building height between 5.8 m and 9.3 m, created the worst outdoor discomfort situations. Better land management prospects were also investigated through a multicriteria approach using morphological settlement zones, wind direction, pavement watering, building regulations and future landscaping plans. East–west-aligned road segments of a total 38.44 km length were delineated for water spray cooling and greener pavements. This study is likely to provide solutions for enhancing ambient urban health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces a machine learning-based framework for mapping street patterns in urban morphology, offering an objective, scalable approach that transcends traditional methodologies. Focusing on six diverse cities, the research employed supervised machine learning to classify street networks into gridiron, organic, hybrid, and cul-de-sac patterns with the street-based local area (SLA) as the unit of analysis. Utilising quantitative street metrics and GIS, the study analysed the urban form through the random forest method, which reveals the predictive features of urban patterns and enables a deeper understanding of the spatial structures of cities. The findings showed distinctive spatial structures, such as ring formations and urban cores, indicating stages of urban development and socioeconomic narratives. It also showed that the unit of analysis has a major impact on the identification and study of street patterns. Concluding that machine learning is a critical tool in urban morphology, the research suggests that future studies should expand this framework to include more cities and urban elements. This would enhance the predictive modelling of urban growth and inform sustainable, human-centric urban planning. The implications of this study are significant for policymakers and urban planners seeking to harness data-driven insights for the development of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying driving factors of the urban heat island phenomenon is vital for enhancing urban ecological environments. Urban functional zones (UFZs), key for planning and management, have a substantial impact on the urban thermal environment through their two-dimensional (2D)/three-dimensional (3D) morphology. Despite prior research on land use and landscape patterns, understanding the effects of 2D/3D urban morphology in different UFZs is lacking. This study employs Landsat-8 remote sensing data to retrieve the land surface temperature (LST). A method combining supervised and unsupervised classification is proposed for UFZ mapping, utilizing multi-source geospatial data. Subsequently, parameters defining the 2D/3D urban morphology of UFZs are established. Finally, the Pearson correlation analysis and GeoDetector are used to analyze the driving factors. The results indicate the following: (1) In the Fifth Ring Road area of Beijing, the residential zones exhibit the highest LST, followed by the industrial zones. (2) In 2D urban morphology, the percentage of built-up landscape (built-PLAND) and Shannon's diversity index (SHDI) are the main factors influencing LST. In 3D urban morphology, building density, the sky view factor (SVF), and the area-weighted mean shape index (shape index) are the main factors influencing LST. Therefore, low-density buildings with simple and dispersed shapes contribute to mitigating LST, while fragmented distributions of trees, grasslands, and water bodies also play important roles in alleviating LST. (3) In the interactive detection results, all UFZs show the highest interaction detection results with the built-PLAND. (4) Spatial variations are observed in the impact of different UFZs on LST. For instance, in the residential zones, industrial zones, green space zones, and public service zones, the SVF is negatively correlated with LST, while in the commercial zones, the SVF exhibits a positive correlation with LST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land is needed for many activities in cities due to rapid urbanization and population growth taking place on a global scale. In order to meet the demands of the increasing population, cities grow towards extensive rural lands and try to meet the citizens' needs for land spatially used for housing, transportation, industrial facilities, and education facilities. The change in urban morphology is one of the most discussed topics in planning from the past to the present, consisting of uniquely complex phenomena. The traditional method of urban science offers approaches based on Euclidean geometry, based on the assumption of uniform growth. However, urban morphology has a multidimensional fractal structure, and it is insufficient to understand the city as a living organism that evolves, changes, and develops very quickly. Since urban growth and expansion are an inevitable reality intertwined with economic growth, spatial changes in cities as living organisms are inevitable. Population growth worldwide is one of the most critical parameters affecting cities' growth. Unplanned growth in cities causes many environmental problems, such as unplanned urbanization. Monitoring and forecasting land changes in urban growth and expansion processes are significant in producing effective regional and urban planning policies. In this process, the concept of urban morphology comes to the fore. In this context, the fractal dimension analysis emerges as a technique of interest. Decreases and increases in fractal values gain meaning by being associated with processes such as expansion and growth observed in cities. Fractal geometry, on the other hand, provides the opportunity to evaluate this complex structure quantitatively. At the same time, it offers a new mathematical framework for describing urban morphology. The study aimed to investigate the development process of the development zone in the western corridor of Ankara, with a fractal analysis to be made at the urban scale through its morphological change. The temporal changes in urban form and texture between 2005-2022 and the morphological character of Ankara are questioned through fractal analysis. The study was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, the western corridor of Ankara was analyzed on an urban scale, and the morphological change in 2039 was estimated within the scope of two different scenarios. The compact growing scenario (GC) proposes a growth model within the boundaries of the determined area. The spreading-growing scenario (GS) assumes a spreading-growth behavior into the land cover, regardless of field boundaries. The GC scenario defines areas where growth will not occur outside the determined western development zone. On the other hand, the GS covers the growth areas produced by assuming that the entire urban geography is suitable for settlement without any restrictions. After defining the scenarios, fractal blots from 2005, 2013, 2022, and 2039 were obtained, and fractal analysis was carried out using the box-counting method. At the same time, it showed that urban spatial richness increased, as the value of 1.63 in 2005 reached 1.85 in GC and 1.98 in growing by GS in 2039. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that the changes in the fractal dimensions obtained at the urban scale, the West development corridor experienced a rapid urbanization process from 2005 to the present, and this process showed urban expansion in the east-west direction. Increases in fractal dimensions also indicate an increase in the complexity of the urban fabric, in other words, spatial richness. The simulation results of the year 2039 using the Cellular Automata - Markov chain method also support these results. Compact and spreading growth approaches produced within the scope of the research resulted in different growth behaviors of the city. While the growth is more controlled in the model restricted by the research area boundaries, the expansion pressure of the city is quite remarkable in the scenario where there is no restriction. The data obtained by this method for West Ankara, which is determined as the development direction of the city with the plan decisions, has significant potential in evaluating the current situation and future spatial patterns. Therefore, the research offers a new perspective to describe the complexity of the urban system. In addition, it is thought to have a guiding quality in the planning processes. The research offers a current perspective and innovation with a scenario-based model based on fractal geometry to describe the complexity of urban morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jurnal Kawistara is the property of Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of GRID - Architecture, Planning & Design Journal is the property of GRID - Architecture, Planning & Design Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The morphology of urban areas plays a crucial role in determining solar potential, which directly affects photovoltaic capacity and the achievement of net-zero outcomes. This study focuses on the City of Melbourne to investigate the utilization of solar energy across different urban densities and proposes optimized morphologies. The analysis encompasses blocks with diverse population densities, examining medium and high-density areas. By utilizing a multi-objective genetic optimization approach, the urban morphology of these blocks is refined. The findings indicate that low-density blocks exhibit photovoltaic potential ranging from 1 to 6.6 times their total energy consumption. Medium and high-density blocks achieve photovoltaic potential levels approximately equivalent to 40%–85% of their overall energy consumption. Moreover, significant variations in photovoltaic potential are observed among different urban forms within medium and high-density blocks. An "elevated corners with central valley" prototype is proposed as an effective approach, enhancing the overall photovoltaic potential by approximately 14%. This study introduces novel analytical concepts, shedding light on the intricate relationship between urban morphologies and photovoltaic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advancement of urban modernization, more and more residents are flocking to large cities, leading to problems such as severe traffic congestion, uneven distribution of spatial resources, and deterioration of the urban environment. These challenges pose a serious threat to the coordinated development of cities. In order to better understand the travel behavior of metropolitan residents and provide valuable insights for urban planning, this study utilizes taxi trajectory data from the central areas of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. First, the relationship between daytime taxi drop-off points and urban amenities is explored using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). Subsequently, Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) techniques were applied to identify spatial differences in these urban drivers. The results show that commonalities emerge across the four cities in the interaction between external transport stops and commercial areas. In addition, the average daily travel patterns of residents in these four cities show a trend of "three peaks and three valleys", indicating the commonality of travel behavior. In summary, this study explores the travel characteristics of urban residents, which can help urban planners understand travel patterns more effectively. This is crucial for the strategic allocation of transport resources across regions, the promotion of sustainable urban transport, and the reduction in carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Hindu pilgrimage site where millions of people gather to seek solutions to problems related to everyday life, the "Kumbh Mela" is recognised as one of India's intangible cultural heritages. The site of the observance rotates between four cities, Haridwar, Ujjain, Nashik and Prayagraj. The infrastructure and services in the city that is hosting such a gathering undergo numerous changes as a result of the sizeable gathering. The goal of the study is to monitor the changes in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) in the city of Prayagraj before and after the "Kumbh Mela" and to evaluate the effect on infrastructure changes in the citry. Analyzing the changes that such pilgrimages and events bring about in cities are fascinating. In 2019, the city of Prayagraj hosted the "Kumbh", hence, Pre-Kumbh (2016), Kumbh (2019), and Post-Kumbh (2022) phases were taken under consideration for LULC change assessment. Supervised classification was conducted using Maximum Likelihood Classifier to prepare LULC maps. It was observed that urbanisation has significantly increased at the expense of vegetation, fallow land, and agricultural land. The success of the local agroforestry policy and plantation drive is demonstrated by the interesting increase in vegetation that has been observed. The construction of a civil airport, the widening of existing roads, the installation of new railroad tracks, and the adornment of roundabouts on existing roads are the major infrastructure changes. The findings offer fresh insights of increasing urban infrastructure from a cultural perspective. The findings will aid in better planning and policy development for the resilient and sustainable infrastructure, as well as in the development of a long-term strategy for the temporary habitation in the "Kumbh" area of such cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expansion of cities with population growth leads to the differentiation of urban texture, negatively affecting the accessibility of tourism areas in historical regions. For this reason, there is a need to develop tourism areas that enable people to experience the areas of historical heritage. Sustainable urban development, which is also the theory of the study, has become an agenda for the protection and revitalization of historical areas in order to increase accessibility to tourism. The Safranbolu Protected Area, which is one of the oldest settlements with its traditional housing texture and which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in Turkey, was chosen as the study area. In this study, the aim is to examine the accessibility of historical tourism centers, analyze the spatial configuration of the street texture in the city of Karabük and determine the features of the formation mechanism of the Safranbolu historical region. The research questions are based on the impact of (1) the accessibility of the street network on the formation mechanism of the urban architecture and (2) the shaping of urban tourism areas in historical cities. The space syntax method was used to examine the relationship between the building features of the Safranbolu Urban Protected Area and the formation features of the space. Within the scope of the study, the accessibility of the Safranbolu historical center was examined through the street texture that shapes the city form using data from Open Street Map. Segment and axial analyses were made based on the current street network data of the city. The key findings of the research revealed that the accessibility level of the city's street network was practically effective in shaping the Safranbolu Urban Protected Area. It was theoretically found that the streets with a high global integration value in the city have an impact on the shaping of traditional architecture and constitute important routes for tourism in sustainable development. The findings serve as a reference for researchers in sustainable development, urban planners and local governments who will use it to test the methodology for understanding the street layout of the historical area and improving the experiential characteristics of the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses informal built landscapes in nine fast-growing global cities across diverse geo-political regions using historical maps, aerial photographs, and field visits. This empirical study investigates the urban form of informal built landscapes, identifying 10 main patterns of urban form in settlements created in the 1970–2020 period. This period was characterized by rapid spatial expansion of informal settlements. These trends raise the question of whether there were common characteristics of informal land occupation, how public sector interventions have changed informal settlements, and whether certain built landscapes were more prominent globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban morphology has been empirically demonstrated to be self-organized and can be quantified by fractal dimension. However, the spatial variation rule of fractal features at the sub-zone scale has yet to be uncovered, as well as the relationship between fractal dimension values and road network or land-use patterns. In this study, the urban area is partitioned into 158 grid units, with subsequent calculations conducted to determine the fractal dimensions (using 2D box-counting and 3D voxel-counting methods), road network characteristics, and land-use patterns within each individual unit. The pattern of how architectures fill into the 2D or 3D embedding space at the grid level is revealed. Moreover, the spatial relationship between the road network, land-use, and their impacts on the local architectural layout is elucidated by employing MGWR, a model that incorporates the principles of fitting localized spatial regression. The results are as follows: (1) urban morphology follows fractal laws at a sub-zone scale, both in a 2D plane and 3D volume; (2) the filling degree of architecture is high in the urban center but low in the periphery areas; (3) the selected variables fit well with the regression models; (4) there is spatial heterogeneity regarding the influence of each factor. The research findings provide valuable insights into the theoretical relationship between urban morphology and the composite structure of road networks and land use. This facilitates identifying crucial areas and priority directions for urban renewal construction, as well as optimizing architectural design to improve efficiency and functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, in recent years it has become a prevailing trend to promote the spatial maturity and high-quality transformation of new towns, yet there are few quantitative methods to evaluate their urban morphological maturity. From the perspective of quantitative urban morphology, this paper integrates street view data and cutting-edge analytical techniques into classic urban morphological study and develops a quantitative index for evaluating urban morphological maturity that fits Chinese cities by adjusting the indicators in line with the unique characteristics of the built environment of Chinese cities. Focusing on five new towns, as well as a historic area, of Shanghai, the paper evaluates their urban morphological maturity with this quantitative index and verifies its validity by comparing the evaluation result with that of expert consensus. It then proposes some design guidelines that may provide robust support for the regeneration of these new towns. Given its reliance on the multi-source data of open access and ready availability, this index holds promise for evaluating the urban morphological maturity of other new towns, to provide support for urban form improvement from both holistic and detailed perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical simulation is vital for evaluating urban ventilation. However, accurate urban-scale ventilation modeling requires extensive building surface simulation for computational demand. The distributed drag force approach simplifies the urban canopy by modeling buildings as a porous volume that accounts for momentum and turbulence. This method is a practical solution for simulating urban airflow. The drag force coefficient (Cd) is a crucial aerodynamic parameter in this approach. This study examines how Cd varies with urban design parameters such as plan area density (λp), average building height (H), frontal area density (λf), floor aspect ratio (AR), and sky view factor (SVF). Employing extensive numerical simulations conducted under neutral atmospheric conditions, we explore ranges of λp = 0.04–0.07 and λf = 0.1–1.2. The numerical model has been validated against existing wind tunnel data. The results show that Cd is insensitive to the model scale and background wind speed. We discover a nonlinear relationship between Cd and the parameters λp, λf, and SVF. For urban layouts with cubic-shaped buildings, Cd peaks at different λp within the range of 0.2~0.8. When λp and H are constant, Cd has a linear relationship with AR and λf. It is recommended to use λp, SVF, and AR as predictors for Cd across various urban configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bitácora Urbano/Territorial is the property of Bitacora Urbano/Territorial and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Sky View Factor (SVF) stands as a critical metric for quantitatively assessing urban spatial morphology and its estimation method based on Street View Imagery (SVI) has gained significant attention in recent years. However, most existing Street View-based methods prove inefficient and constrained in SVI dataset collection. These approaches often fall short in capturing detailed visual areas of the sky, and do not meet the requirements for handling large areas. Therefore, an online method for the rapid estimation of a large area SVF using SVI is presented in this study. The approach has been integrated into a WebGIS tool called BMapSVF, which refines the extent of the visible sky and allows for instant estimation of the SVF at observation points. In this paper, an empirical case study is carried out in the street canyons of the Qinhuai District of Nanjing to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. To validate the accuracy of the refined SVF extraction method, we employ both the SVI method based on BMapSVF and the simulation method founded on 3D urban building models. The results demonstrate an acceptable level of refinement accuracy in the test area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Structure & Function Studies is the property of University of Mazandaran and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tasarim+Kuram is the property of KARE Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Wind, a renewable resource with growing importance in the contemporary world, is considered a capable tool for addressing some of the problems linked with rapid urbanization, unsustainable development, and climate change. As such, understanding modelling approaches to wind characteristics in cities becomes crucial. While prior reviews delve into the advancements in reduced-scale models and computational fluid dynamics simulations, there is scant literature evaluating large-scale spatial modelling of urban wind environments. This paper aims to consolidate the understanding of spatial modelling approaches to wind characteristics in cities by conducting a systematic literature review with the PRISMA protocol to capture the contributions to sustainable urban development. The reviewed articles are categorized under two distinctive approaches: (a) studies adopting the wind morphometric approach, encompassing theoretical foundations, input factors, and computation methods and (b) studies adopting the urban climate mapping approach, centering on the amalgamation of wind with urban microclimate analysis. The findings suggest that wind morphometric methodologies hold considerable promise due to their straightforward calculations and interpretability. Nonetheless, issues related to data precision and accuracy challenge the validity of these models. This review also probes into the implications of these two distinctive approaches for urban planning and policymaking, advocating for more sustainable urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Locating and quantifying photovoltaic (PV) installations is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, but it is necessary for monitoring their distribution. In the absence of existing data, the use of aerial imagery and automated detection algorithms can improve the efficiency and accuracy of the data collection process. This study presents a machine learning approach for the analysis of PV installations in urban areas based on less complex and resource-intensive models to target the challenge of data scarcity. The first objective of this work is to develop a model that can automatically detect PV installations from aerial imagery and test it based on the case study of Crevillent, Spain. Subsequently, the work estimates the PV capacity in Crevillent, and it compares the distribution of PV installations between residential and industrial areas. The analysis utilizes machine learning techniques and existing bottom-up data to assess land use and building typology for PV installations, identifying deployment patterns across the town. The proposed approach achieves an accuracy of 67% in detecting existing PV installations. These findings demonstrate that simple machine learning models still provide a reliable and cost-effective way to obtain data for decision-making in the fields of energy and urban planning, particularly in areas with limited access to existing data. Combining this technology with bottom-up data can lead to more comprehensive insights and better outcomes for urban areas seeking to optimize and decarbonize their energy supply while minimizing economic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponential growth of urban populations and city infrastructure globally presents distinct patterns, impacting climate change forecasts and urban climates. This study conducts a systematic review of the literature focusing on human thermal comfort (HTC) in outdoor urban environments. The findings indicate a significant surge in studies exploring HTC in open urban spaces in recent decades. While historically centered on Northern Hemisphere cities, there is a recent shift, with discussions extending to various metropolitan contexts in the Southern Hemisphere. Commonly employed urban categorization systems include Sky View Factor (SVF), Height × Width (H/W) ratio, and the emerging Local Climate Zones (LCZs), facilitating the characterization of urban areas and their usage. Various thermal indices, like Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET), Predicted Mean Vote (PMV), Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), and Standard Effective Temperature (SET), are frequently utilized in evaluating external HTC in metropolitan areas. These indices have undergone validation in the literature, establishing their reliability and applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the role of architectural composition and urban design in enhancing urban biodiversity, which is crucial for improving ecosystem services and overall urban sustainability. It addresses a gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence on how specific morphological characteristics in urban regeneration projects can support biodiversity, emphasizing the overlooked potential of architectural morphologies in urban greening strategies. Focusing on five recent urban regeneration projects in Milan, the study conducts a detailed analysis of built volumes and green areas. Quantitative measurements, such as green area compactness, perimeter edge continuity, and building front permeability, were combined with qualitative assessments to identify correlations between urban morphology and biodiversity potential. The analysis revealed three distinct urban morphologies—"Central Park," "Fluid Park," and "Garden Between Houses"—each offering unique conditions for accessibility and biodiversity development. These morphologies demonstrate varying capacities for conserving, promoting, and implementing urban biodiversity, depending on their interaction with the surrounding urban fabric. By establishing a clear correlation between urban morphology and biodiversity potential, this research highlights the critical role that architects and urban designers play in addressing the emerging challenge of enhancing urban biodiversity. It provides valuable insights for future urban regeneration projects aimed at fostering sustainable and biodiverse urban environments.