Analysis of sustainable urban forms for climate change adaptation and mitigation

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to discuss sustainable urban forms by elucidating the relationship between urban form and various climate change risks. Firstly, it comprehensively addresses three climate change risks to unveil trade-offs related to the impact of urban form on climate change risk. Secondly, it distinguishes itself from prior research by conducting analyses at two levels, using variables and cities, to control the contradiction where a single urban form exhibited varying impacts on specific climate change risks in previous research. The research methodology comprises two main processes: regression analysis and simulation analysis. The regression analysis assesses the influence of each urban form variable on climate change risks, while the simulation analysis explores effective urban forms for mitigating climate change risks at the city level, beyond the variable-level analysis. According to the analysis results, it was evident that the urban type characterized by the most dispersed structure exhibited the highest vulnerability to flood damage. For urban heat island risk, the intensity of urban heat islands increased when cities possessed a single-center and highly continuous urban spatial structure. Moreover, regarding greenhouse gas emissions risk, cities exhibiting a dispersed structure, unequal distribution, and a single-center spatial configuration were found to experience higher greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. Additionally, a trade-off related to dispersion was observed between flood risk and urban heat island intensity. To optimize synergies among various urban form policies and minimize trade-off effects among different urban form attributes, diverse approaches should be considered.