Khalvandi, Karimimoshaver. Optimizing urban block forms to improve street canyon microclimates and pedestrian comfort[J]. 能源与人工环境(英文), 2026,7(5):1230-1259.
Khalvandi, Karimimoshaver. Optimizing urban block forms to improve street canyon microclimates and pedestrian comfort[J]. Energy and Built Environment, 2026, 7(5): 1230-1259.
Khalvandi, Karimimoshaver. Optimizing urban block forms to improve street canyon microclimates and pedestrian comfort[J]. 能源与人工环境(英文), 2026,7(5):1230-1259.DOI: 10.1016/j.enbenv.2025.08.001.
Khalvandi, Karimimoshaver. Optimizing urban block forms to improve street canyon microclimates and pedestrian comfort[J]. Energy and Built Environment, 2026, 7(5): 1230-1259.DOI: 10.1016/j.enbenv.2025.08.001.
Optimizing urban block forms to improve street canyon microclimates and pedestrian comfort
Improving urban microclimate conditions is influenced by various factors
including the construction industry and transportation. Predicting the performance of built environments by understanding the effectiveness of each factor can guide urban planning and optimize resource allocation. Urban blocks challenge urban livability by disrupting the microclimate balance in street canyons and impacting pedestrian comfort. The lack of a comprehensive evaluation and ranking system for selecting urban structures due to the qualitative or incomparable nature of previous research results is a gap that makes it problematic to identify the optimal form to supply all-around comfort conditions in urban microclimates. To improve design and organization policies of built environments and enhance urban sustainability and resilience rates
this research aims to quantify the impact of widely used morphological components on microclimate conditions. The unique approach of this study
which evaluates comfort conditions from multiple perspectives (Including various thermal
pollution
and movement aspects)
covers conflicting needs and attempts to provide a method for creating a balance between different comfort factors. This study categorizes the elements that shape building block forms and compares their effects on temperature
pressure
and wind velocity changes in street canyons. Ranking these impacts provides a foundation for selecting the optimal form and method based on the existing context conditions. Simulations and CFD calculations were performed using ANSYS-CFX 2022/R2 software. Repetition of an ordinary form in urban constructions (benchmark) in all these groups makes it possible to calculate the effective percentage of modifying building geometries. The results show that
among different scenarios
modifications in the general form and geometry of building blocks have the most potential to improve the comfort conditions of street canyons (up to 70 % compared to common urban forms). In other words
a routine building in the city can only provide 30 % of the comfort conditions compared to the ones modified in their geometry. Compared to buildings with channels for air passage inside their volume or elements added to their facades
this benchmark state will provide 60 % comfort conditions. In other words
subtracting a piece from the building volume or adding elements to change the wind flow to the facade up to 40 % can improve the comfort conditions in the street canyon.