Morphology of Buildings and Cities in Hot and Humid Regions

Abstract

Hot and humid regions consist of the tropical climate, Middle Eastern climate, and Mediterranean climate. Such regions are normally located near the equator but also include dessert regions located far from the equator, such as the Gobi Desert. These regions experience uncomfortable thermal comfort levels due to the high outdoor air temperature and, in some cases, high humidity. This situation makes it challenging to provide thermal comfort in these regions. The increased economic activities in most of the countries in hot and humid regions have changed the morphology of urban areas, cities, buildings, and houses. The increase in urbanization affects the outdoor and indoor environments of buildings and houses. The increasing urban temperature due to the increase of heat generation from people, cars, appliances, and other human activities affect the chemical and biological situations of urban areas. The increasing outdoor air temperature due to urban heat generation (aka, urban heat island) in hot and humid regions worsens the already unpleasant outdoor air conditions. It has also resulted in an increase in the use of air conditioning systems and energy consumption as the heat sink temperature (outdoor air) increases. With this, the difference between the indoor air and outdoor air temperature has increased.