Heat-prone neighbourhood typologies of European cities with temperate climate

Abstract

• Compact mid-rise areas are the most heat-prone in Amsterdam, London, and Paris • Within one local climate zone, morphological variance needs to be considered. • Combinations of seven morphological parameters are analysed. • Four neighbourhood typologies are developed using K-means cluster analysis. • Street orientation and Height-to-Width ratio are the most variant parameters. Outdoor microclimates vary among different urban neighbourhoods depending on their morphological variations. The Local Climate Zone (LCZ) framework is a well-developed typomorphological classification used to capture the variation that characterises neighbourhood microclimates. However, it does not include detailed morphological parameters within neighbourhoods that have synergistic effects on microclimates. It is thus essential to develop neighbourhood typologies with detailed spatial descriptions. This study first identifies the LCZ in Amsterdam, London and Paris with the highest Land Surface Temperature (hereinafter referred to as the most heat-prone areas). Subsequently, parameters which are not covered by the LCZs were analysed, including building block's floor area ratio and shape factor, street canyon's orientation and Height-to-Width ratio, street total length, green space area, and tree cover ratio. The results show that LCZ 2-compact mid-rise areas are the most heat-prone. Employing K-means cluster analysis, four neighbourhood typologies are distinguished within the LCZ 2: mainly wide streets with N-S and E-W orientations, mainly narrow streets with N-S and E-W orientations, mainly narrow streets with NE-SW and NW-SE orientations, mainly wide streets with four orientations divided by 45°. These generalised neighbourhood typologies can be used as the basis for design interventions aiming at climate adaptation in heat-prone urban areas.