Climate-conscious spatial morphology optimization strategy using a method combining local climate zone parameterization concept and urban canopy layer model

Many researches have demonstrated that the urban spatial morphology greatly influences local-scale urban climates. Optimizing urban spatial morphology to create a climate-friendly urban space is important for constructing human settlements that are environmentally suitable and consume low energy. This study focuses on local-scale city blocks, applying the local climate zone (LCZ) concept to quantify these city blocks and developing an urban canopy layer (UCL) model to calculate city block climatic conditions. A visualization-based spatial morphology optimization strategy is proposed by integrating the LCZ parameterization, UCL model, and geographic information system technology. This proposed strategy provides a thorough climate suitability optimization design road map for urban planners from a theoretical perspective. An efficient and easily useable integrated software is also developed from the technical operation perspective and verified using field-measured climatic data. The comparison results show that there are software-related errors when handling vegetation areas. This study contributes to developing a systematic approach to realize a climate-conscious and optimized urban spatial morphology. In future research, this proposed strategy can be applied in case studies in urban areas. Additional theoretical analysis of the heat/moisture transfer processes in different underlying surfaces can be further studied and embedded into the software calculation modules.