High-rise Residential Areas Research Articles

Vertical thermal environment investigation in different urban zones (LCZ4/LCZ6/LCZA) and heat mitigation evaluation: Field measurements and numerical simulations

Urban heat island (UHI) effect has become a main urban environmental problem in megacities. To express the UHI effects more meaningfully and provide scientific basis for heat mitigation and urban planning, both field measurements and numerical simulations were conducted in Xi'an City, China. Three typical urban local climate zones (LCZs) with close geographical locations—high-rise/low-rise residential areas (LCZ4/6) and urban parks (LCZA)—were chosen to investigate thermal environments in vertical spaces. It was found that UHILCZ6/4−LCZA could reach 1.2/2 °C during the daytime and 0.3/0.7 °C in the night at screen-level height. In particular, temperature inversions were found in residential areas during the daytime, which led to an increase in the UHI intensity at certain heights. To investigate means to improve the thermal environment of residential areas, numerical simulations were carried out to test the influence of cool roofs and cool facades. It was found that the daytime air temperatures could be reduced by 0.2 °C and 0.4 °C after adopting high-reflectance roofs and facades in high-rise residential area at screen-level height, respectively. In addition, the implementation of cool facades also affected the air temperature profiles and atmospheric conditions, leading to the disappearance of temperature inversions and complicated stratification, and providing more evident cooling effects at certain heights. The findings of this study provide new insights into thermal environments of urban zones with different structures and have practical importance for urban UHI mitigation.

GIS-Based Risk Assessment on Sea Level Rise and Flooding in Alsancak Harbour Behind Area

According to climate change projections outlined in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report, sea levels are expected to rise between 0.37 and 1.88 meters by 2150. The rise in sea level poses a significant threat to coastal areas, including industrial heritage zones frequently developed around ports. Alsancak Harbour Behind Area is a significant location due to its essential industrial heritage. The main objective of the research is to evaluate the potential risks related to floods and long-term sea level rises in the Alsancak Harbour Behind Area. Thus, the research aims to assess the potential risks associated with flooding and long-term sea level rise in the Alsancak Harbour Behind Area within the context of industrial heritage. It also measures the area's resilience to these risks and discusses planning decisions. The ‘Coastal Risk Screening Tool’ was used to create a coastal flood map according to determined three different scenarios. The result shows that the valuable industrial heritage buildings such as the Coal Gas Factory, Old Flour Mill-II and Tariş Alcohol Factory, new high-rise residential areas, port facilities and transportation arteries are at high or medium risk, especially in 2100 and 2150.

Multi-Objective Optimization of Morphology in High-Rise Residential Areas for Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Yulin City, Northwest China

Urban residential areas significantly influence outdoor thermal comfort through architectural morphology. This study concentrates on the multi-objective optimization of the thermal comfort environment in residential areas, with a focus on Yulin—a city in the cold, inland region of Northwestern China. Yulin is characterized by its distinctly defined seasons, particularly harsh and windy conditions in the spring, which significantly impact thermal comfort. Utilizing field surveys, characteristics of scale and layout from high-rise residential areas in Yulin were extracted to formulate design strategies adapted to local climates. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) served as the optimization criterion, and genetic algorithms, integrated with parametric modeling software, generated multiple layout schemes. These were refined through the Pareto evolutionary algorithm II to optimize thermal comfort across seasons. Furthermore, the Sobol’ sensitivity analysis method was employed to assess the impact of key parameters on outdoor thermal comfort, identifying crucial layout design elements. The optimization improved UTCI values for different seasons, ensuring year-round comfort. Specifically, summer UTCI improved to 25.51, while winter and spring values reached optimal values of −14.02 and −6.41, demonstrating enhanced thermal retention and reduced wind exposure. Sobol’ sensitivity analysis identified building length, orientation, and density as key parameters, highlighting their critical impact on thermal comfort. This study offers practical guidelines for urban residential area design in similar climatic zones, aligning architectural planning with environmental sustainability and enhancing thermal comfort effectively. This study provides practical guidelines for the design of residential areas in cold inland—seasonal windy—regions and other similar climatic zones, aligning building morphology design with environmental sustainability and enhancing thermal comfort effectively.

Biophilic Experience in High-Rise Residential Areas in China: Factor Structure and Validity of a Scale

The increasing popularity of high-rise, high-density residential areas in urban environments has brought about problems such as isolation from nature and increasingly depauperate ecological conditions, and consequently, adverse effects on residents’ health and environmental sustainability. Therefore, creating a high-quality biophilic living space environment is key to solving this conflict, considering the health benefits that nature brings to people. However, there are currently no appropriate assessment tools to measure the biophilic living environment of high-rise residential areas. In response, we have developed an environment assessment scale for measuring the Biophilic Experience in High-Rise Residential Areas (BornA) based on resident experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify the measurement items relevant to their biophilic living experiences and behaviors. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to identify the scale’s structure and examine its reliability and validity. The study resulted in the development of an 18-item BornA, comprising five dimensions: natural landscape, natural interaction, cultural identity, neighborhood interaction, and personal space. The BornA contributes to the assessment of the biophilic living space environment in high-rise residential areas from the perspective of resident behavior and perception, identifying health intervention environments for sample populations and understanding how the residential environment affects residents’ health.

High-Rise Residential District Morphology Optimization for Enhancing the Green Space Cooling Effect

Large-scale urban green spaces exert a cooling effect in cities and have great potential for optimizing the urban climate. In this study, taking the typical green space Xingfulindai in Xi’an as an example, we carried out field measurements and ENVI-met simulations of the area and the surrounding high-rise residential areas to analyze the cooling effect. The results show that the cooling effect is the strongest at night in summer seasons, spreading up to 250 m, and the cooling intensity along the downwind direction can be up to 2 °C. On this basis, a total of 16 ideal models of seven groups of high-rise residential blocks were established to analyze the effect of three morphological indices, namely, building orientation, podium ratio, and otherness with respect to the cooling effect of the green space, and a block morphology design strategy for high-rise residential areas was proposed to enhance the cooling effect of the green space. This study provides climate-adaptive optimization strategies for the construction and renewal of residential blocks.

THE SPATIAL LAYOUT AND COMPOSITION OF 'DOMAIN OF THE GATE’ IN MODERN HIGH-RISE COMMERCIAL HOUSING DISTRICT IN CHINA RESEARCH ON THE BOUNDARY OF ENCLOSED HOUSING DISTRICT

This study aims to capture the compositional practices and ideas of the boundaries of Chinese high-rise commercial housing estates through an examination of the physical boundary of modern Chinese enclosed commercial housing estates, the gates that link the inner and outer parts of the estates and the 'Domain of gate' that they form. By examining and classifying the spatial layout, composition and relationship with the surrounding realm facade, seven types of field composition and diverse field character characteristics are identified, illuminating the spatial composition of high-rise commercial residential areas and the context in which they are formed.

Research on Wind Environment and Morphological Effects of High-Rise Buildings in Macau: An Example from the New Reclamation Area around Areia Preta.

The Macau peninsula is close to the tropical ocean, with a high population density and a large number of high-rise buildings, which require a windy environment with good ventilation and heat dissipation. Based on residential samples and the degree of agglomeration, the high-rise residential area in Areia Preta was selected as the focus of this study. Meanwhile, summer typhoons pose serious safety risks to high-rise buildings. Therefore, it is necessary to study the connection between spatial form and the wind environment. First of all, this research is based on relevant concepts and the wind environment evaluation system of high-rise buildings and conducts research on high-rise residential areas in Areia Preta. PHOENICS software is used to simulate the prevailing monsoon in winter and summer, as well as a typhoon in an extreme wind environment, and summarize the wind environment's characteristics. Secondly, by comparing the parameter calculation and simulation results, the possible relationship between the causes of each wind field is studied. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the urban form and wind environment of the site, and corresponding control strategies are proposed to reduce the shielding effect between buildings and typhoon damage. It can be used as a theoretical basis and reference point for urban construction and high-rise building planning and layout.

High-Rise Residential Outdoor Space Value System: A Case Study of Yangtze River Delta Area

The outbreak of COVID-19 has drawn wider attention from residents with growing demand for outdoor space in residential areas because of restrictions on residents' mobility, especially in China. However, the high-rise residential complex in China is featured with a high population density along with less outdoor space per household. This means that the current status of outdoor space in residential areas is far from satisfying residents' growing needs. This is consistent with our preliminary survey that highlights general low satisfaction of residents with outdoor space. According to the hierarchical theory of needs, a literature review, and a questionnaire survey, a framework is proposed in this study to examine the universal value system of high-rise residential outdoor space using the Yangtze River Delta Area as a case study. This framework consists of six dimensions, i.e., space physical comfort (physical environment and space size), space function (functional complexity and scale, age-range, and time-range), space safety (daily, social, and hygiene safety), space diversity (spatial layerings, forms, and scales diversity), accessibility (spatial attraction and concentration and path clarity) and sustainability (cultural, social, ecological, and financial sustainability). Consequently, a questionnaire was designed according to the framework and 251 valid questionnaires were received. Then, structural equation modeling (SEM) was undertaken to examine the impact of each dimension on the value of outdoor space and the framework was optimized into four dimensions, i.e., space physical comfort, space function, space safety, and DAT (space diversity, accessibility, and sustainability). Finally, the mechanism of how outdoor space quality influences the high-rise residential complex is analyzed. These findings provide useful input for the future planning and design of high-rise residential areas.

Spatial Identification, Prevention and Control of Epidemics in High-Rise Residential Areas Based on Wind Environments

The wind environment in residential areas can exert a direct or indirect influence on the spread of epidemics, with some scholars paying particular attention to the epidemic prevention and control of residential areas from the perspective of wind environments. As a result, it is urgent to re-examine the epidemic prevention response of residential spaces. Taking high-rise residential areas in Xi’an as an example, the article defines the air flow field area based on on-site wind environment measurements, crowd behavior annotation, and CFD simulation. Using the double-effect superposition of crowd behavior and risk space, the paper undertook a multiple identification strategy of epidemic prevention space. The identification methods and management and control strategies of epidemic prevention in high-rise residential areas are proposed. Additionally, the living environment of residential areas is optimized, and a healthy residential space is created. The transformation from concept and calls for action to space implementation is made to provide a reference for improving the space management and control capabilities in high-rise residential areas in China. The results of this study can be used as a guideline for future residential planning and design from the perspective of preventing airborne diseases.

Urban-rural fringe identification and spatial form transformation during rapid urbanization: A case study in Wuhan, China

Urbanization and industrialization are widespread in China, but spatial form changes during urban sprawl are not explored in depth. This paper investigated the variation of the local climate zones (LCZs) within urban-rural fringe (URF) from 2010 to 2020 in Wuhan. Based on normalized multi-source data (population density, night-time light and land use data), the spatiotemporal distribution of the URF was obtained through K-means. LCZ maps for different years were produced by SAGA-GIS. The silhouette coefficient (SC), the sum of the squared errors (SSE), and the consistency ratio (CR) were selected to evaluate the accuracy of clustering and identification. We found that: 1) the identified UC and NUC areas were added up to be consistent with the published developed area and the CR values were all above 70%. 2) the middle region within the URFs has a high average annual growth area (AGA) and annual average area growth rate (AGR), while the urban-rural gradient within URFs near rural areas has become steeper. 3) LCZ 4, LCZ 8 and LCZ 10 were usually distributed in the NUC (near-urban core), LCZ 6 has always been in the NRA, and LCZ D always had the highest proportions in all URFs. 4) LCZ 1, 4, 8 and E continuously increased within all URFs, and with the maximum AGRs of 0.16%, 1.53%, 1.01% and 0.18%, respectively. This study presents the development characteristics of high-rise residential areas and low-rise industries in the URFs in a Chinese mainland city.

Urban Low-Rise Residential Areas Provide Preferred Song Post Sites for a Resident Songbird.

Simple SummarySongbirds adjust their song traits to adapt to urban environments from rural ones. However, the effects of the intraurban environmental variation on resident birds have received little attention. Here, we assessed the distribution and song differences of a common songbird—the oriental magpie-robin—between three urban habitat types. Population density and song diversity were higher in low-rise residential areas than in urban parks, while high-rise residences were rejected by birds. Overall, these results suggest that low-rise residential areas may provide preferred song post sites for this urban resident bird.Urbanization is expanding rapidly worldwide, and brings additional selection pressure on animals. The song differences between urban and rural songbirds have been widely verified, but the effects of urban morphological variation on long-settled urban birds have been poorly explored. Here, we investigated the distribution and song differences of a common resident songbird—the oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis) between three urban morphology types (i.e., urban park, low-rise residential area, and high-rise residential area). The results indicated that the population density in low-rise residential areas was significantly higher than in urban parks, while it was the lowest in high-rise residential areas. Males in low-rise residential areas had greater song length, syllable numbers, frequency bandwidth, and song diversity than those in urban parks. The song differences were mainly related to habitat types, independent of singing height and perch type. Our findings suggest that low-rise residential areas may provide preferred song post sites for the oriental magpie-robin, which is well-adapted to the low-rise building morphology, but rejects the emerging high-rise buildings. Future studies are needed to assess the effects of urban morphological variation on more resident animals to determine which urban morphologies are conducive to enhancing biodiversity and encouraging animals to settle in urban areas.

Spatial Efficiency Evaluation for Outdoor Environment in High-Rise Residential Area: An Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

In this paper, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach is put forward to deal with the spatial efficiency evaluation issue for the outdoor environment in high-rise residential (HRR) areas in China. The principles of quantifiable and objectivity are utilized to empirically research for the area of 10 high-rise residential houses. For the outdoor environment in HRR areas, our aim is to take appropriate optimization suggestions that not only satisfy the different conditions of the outdoor environment but also improve the efficiency of site space. By resorting to the data envelopment analysis technique, some practical methods are acquired for evaluating the outdoor environment for HRR areas.

Effect of High-Rise Residential Building Layout on the Spatial Vertical Wind Environment in Harbin, China

Reasonable building height distribution in urban residential areas is conducive to smoother vertical airflow exchange and promotes sustainable development. This paper studies the influence of building layouts on vertical ventilation in high-rise residential areas in Harbin, China, and discusses typical building layout objectives. The ideal area of 220 × 220 m was determined using statistical analysis and specification requirements, and seven typical layouts were defined based on the distribution of building heights. The computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was verified using wind tunnel testing to improve the accuracy of the Phoenics simulation software. Wind speed, wind pressure, and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) in residential areas distributed at different heights were analyzed and evaluated. The results indicated that the Phoenics simulation parameter settings, verified via wind tunnel testing, could achieve reasonable simulation results and different height distribution modes had an impact on the changes in wind speed and wind pressure. The equal-height layout that conformed to the row spacing of the buildings and the layout of taller buildings on the east side could provide higher comfort, and did not require enclosed and downwind layouts. This research can inform the green and livable design of residential buildings and provide a new perspective for the construction of high-rise residential areas in cold cities.

Visual appraisal of designed landscapes in high-rise residential areas rendered by residents living at different heights

As residential buildings become higher and higher, people begin to pay more attention to the views they can see through windows. Currently, the studies on landscape are mostly conducted at the height of human eye level, and little has been done on visual impact assessment of landscapes from other height perspectives. This study divided the high-rise residential buildings into different height partitions and set landscape style, green area, number of colors, water features, and vertical structure as landscape features. Then the residents living in different height partitions were surveyed by photo stimulation experiments and the data were collected and analyzed. The results show that the five features mentioned above are the main influencing factors for the respondents’ visual impact assessment; residents living in different height partitions rendered different visual impact assessments of the landscapes in residential areas; different landscape features exert certain influence upon the residents living.

Land Subsidence in Qingdao, China, from 2017 to 2020 Based on PS-InSAR.

Land subsidence is a global geological disaster that seriously affects the safety of surface and underground buildings/structures and even leads to loss of life and property. The large-scale and continuous long-time coverage of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time series analysis techniques provide data and a basis for the development of methods for the investigation and evolution mechanism study of regional land subsidence. Based on the 108 SAR data of Sentinel-1 from April 2017 to December 2020, this study used Persistent Scatterer InSAR (PS-InSAR) technology to monitor the land subsidence in Qingdao. In addition, detailed analysis and discussion of land subsidence combined with the local land types and subway construction were carried out. From the entire area to the local scale, the deformation analysis was carried out in the two dimensions of time and space. The results reveal that the rate of surface deformation in Qingdao from 2017 to 2020 was mainly −34.48 to 5.77 mm/a and that the cumulative deformation was mainly −126.10 to 30.18 mm. The subsidence areas were mainly distributed in coastal areas (along the coasts of Jiaozhou Bay and the Yellow Sea) and inland areas (northeast Laixi City and central Pingdu City). In addition, it was found that obvious land subsidence occurred near the Health Center Station of Metro Line 8, a logistics company in Qingdao, and near several high-rise residential areas and business office buildings. It is necessary for the relevant departments to take timely action to prevent and mitigate subsidence-related disasters in these areas.

Influence of Tropical Cyclones on Outdoor Wind Environment in High-Rise Residential Areas in Zhejiang Province, China

Tropical cyclones can cause tremendous harm to coastal areas. This research aims to explore the influence of tropical cyclones on outdoor wind environments in high-rise residential areas in the southeast coastal provinces of China, using Zhejiang Province as an example. It investigated four cities located in Zhejiang Province, including Taizhou and Wenzhou representing coastal cities, and Huzhou and Jiaxing representing inland cities, and collected data from 209 high-rise residential areas. Of these 209 samples, 131 high-rise residential areas with three typical spatial layouts (i.e., rows-style, free-style, and courtyard-style) have been selected for further studies. Numerical simulation was conducted to analyze the outdoor wind environment of these three types of high-rise residential areas, where the height of buildings was set as 26 floors (75 m), during tropical cyclones. Based on a comparison of the wind velocity at the horizontal planes of 1.5 m high and 10 m high, it was found that the spatial layouts of high-rise residential areas could mitigate the negative impact of tropical cyclones on the outdoor wind environment. Specifically, in the coastal cities, the courtyard-style layout led to a relatively small proportion of high wind speed areas (e.g., wind velocity above 14.4 m/s) in the high-rise residential areas; and in the inland cities, the free-style layout led to a relatively small proportion of high wind speed area in the high-rise residential area. In turn, to better cope with the tropical cyclones, it was suggested that the courtyard-style layout should be recommended for high-rise residential areas located in the coastal cities and the free-style layout should be recommended for high-rise residential areas located in the inland cities in coastal provinces.

Generating Residential Layout Based on AI in the View of Wind Environment

There is a contradiction between the high-density residential area development form and comfortable outdoor physical environment. The existing studies on wind environment of high-rise residential areas only provide the guidance for the simple general layouts, which cannot cope with the fact that most high-rise residential areas are mixed of point buildings and board buildings, and it would cost a lot of time and resources to carry out computer simulation of each layout. This paper presents a new tool, which uses the automatic optimization function of genetic algorithm and the prediction function of fully convolutional neural network to integrates three functions: the automatic generation of high-rise residential layout, the simulation of wind environment and the comparison for optimization, to learn plan scheduling and obtain the optimal solution for high-rise residential layout under specific plot ratio and plot conditions, provides guidance for today’s fast-paced architectural design.

The Contribution of Ecosystem Regulating Services Based on Their Interrelationship in the Urban Ecosystem

The urban ecosystem provides many services that help humans lead physically and mentally healthy lives. The quality of such urban ecosystem services is closely related to various urban forms, such as land cover, land use, buildings, infrastructure, population, and type and scale of green space. This study aims to promote the overall improvement and balance of an urban ecosystem’s regulating services. Initially, ecosystem regulating services are assessed according to the type of the urban space, and their contributions are analyzed based on linear regression slope and pairwise comparison of the ecosystem services. The contribution of ecosystem regulating services of Suwon City in South Korea was assessed through the following process: (1) selection of assessment indices and assessment methods for urban ecosystem regulating services; (2) urban space classification; (3) ecosystem regulating service assessment by type of urban space; and (4) pairwise comparison of ecosystem regulating services by type and for the entire study area. The study areas are classified into six type areas: forests (type A), agricultural land (type B), low-rise residential areas (type C), mid-rise mixed (residential and commercial) areas (type D), high-rise residential areas (type E), and industrial and barren land (type F). By studying representative regulating services, such as vegetation vitality, flood reduction capacity, carbon storage capacity, and heat reduction capacity, this study confirmed that type A provided the best service, while type C provided the worst. In addition, the relative contribution analysis between the regulating services based on pairwise comparison showed that the standard deviation between the contributions was 0.04 when diagnosing the entire study area, but apparently no types except type A were balanced. The reason such regulating services are imbalanced is that their vegetation vitality was calculated to be the lowest compared with the assessment indices of type A. Additionally, this imbalance was found to be most severe in the mid-rise mixed (residential and commercial) districts. Through this study, the spatial types in which the ecosystem regulating services in Suwon City are imbalanced could be determined. It was also revealed that regulating services should be prioritized for improvement in order to achieve greater balance in urban ecosystem. Such pairwise comparison results can be effectively utilized in determining the area and supply needed when formulating urban greening plans and forest restoration plans.

Analysis of the impact of the urban traffic noise on the vertical distribution of high-rise residential buildings

With the rapid growth of China’s urban population, the construction of its urban transportation network will be more vigorous than ever. The influence of road traffic noise on urban residential areas has become increasingly prominent. However, most of the current research is limited to the analysis of the flat sound field, leaving the research on high-rise residential vertical sound not so detailed. This study aims to find out the vertical sound field distribution law of traffic noise to high-rise buildings on the sides of the road. We monitored the environmental traffic noise effects in a high-rise residential area in Zhejiang Province and established a high-rise residential model in the SoundPLAN Software to simulate the vertical sound field distribution of traffic noise. The law is that the value rises sharply to the peak in the range of 0-7F (23.0m) then decreases slowly as the height increases. We also made a linear analysis of the noise data to arrive at a linear regression equation. This study provides a new way of taking noise prevention and control into consideration in high-rise housing. Special attention must be given to the isolation of traffic noise on floors by selecting soundproof doors and well-functioning windows. This strategy of creating a high-quality sound environment in a residential area can be put forward to improve people’s lifestyle and environment.

Effects of High-Rise Residential Building Shape and Height on the Urban Microclimate in a Tropical Region

Todays, undesirable urban microclimates are becoming a major global phenomenon. The microclimate that people concern most is Urban Heat Island (UHI). With that concern, architects, planners, and builders are now aggressively reshaping their part in the formation of urban microclimates. Previous studies have found that there are significant relationships between urban geomorphology and urban microclimate. Rapid urbanization and change in urban development trends have produced variation in urban morphology which can also lead to climate changes. This study explores the effects of high-rise residential building shape and height on urban microclimate in Ara Damansara, a newly developed high-rise residential township in Klang Valley. ENVI-met and ArcGIS software are used to perform the simulation and analysis respectively. Initial results have shown that existing triangle building shape is the best building shape towards improving microclimate within the study area. Findings have also shown that the building shape and height contributed to the urban microclimate. The wind direction loses stability with the increase of building height, but the wind speed tends to increase in between the building blocks. Results also show that potential air temperature reduces with wind speed and increase building height. Generally, this present study proves that increasing building height can simulate the wind speed for better microclimate in high-rise residential in a tropical region. Further research will focus on integrating other elements such as building massing strategy to promote wind direction and wind speed to decrease the air temperature in high-rise residential area.