Residential District Research Articles

Ecological Groups of Birds Formed Within the Limits of the Yaitskoe Lake Natural Monument (Samara Region)

The article analyzes the composition of ecological groups of birds registered within the limits of the Yaitskoe Lake Natural Monument. Yaitskoe includes 9 reservoirs of different sizes formed on the basis of the left-bank arm of the Samara River, which strongly meandered for more than 300 years in the estuary part of the Samara River. The lake is located 200 m from the southern border of Samara and less than 200 m from the Yuzhny Gorod new residential district. It was revealed that the avifauna of the Yaitskoe Lake Natural Monument includes 90 species of birds, of which 3 species are northern migrants, 11 periodically nest here and 76 nest almost regularly. These 90 species are belonging to the following orders: Podicipediformes (4), Ciconiiformes (4), Anseriformes (10), Falconiformes (10), Charadriiformes (8), Lariformes (5), Gruiformes (1), Ralliformes (4), Apodiformes (1), Cuculiformes (1), Columbiformes (2), Strigiformes (3), Coraciiformes (1), Upupiformes (1), Piciformes (2), Passeriformes (33 species). The avifauna of the Yaitskoe Lake Nature Monument can be divided into three (3) ecological groups: aquatic, swamp-meadow and shrub-forest birds, as well as a group of birds of prey associated with different coastal-aquatic biotopes. Aquatic group include: divers (4 species of grebes), aquatic-terrestrial (goose-like and coot — 11 species), aquatic-aerial (gulls and terns — 5 species); swamp-meadow: sandpipers of shoals — 6 species, shanks — 5 species, grass-climbing — 16 species; shrub-forest: ground-dwellers — 4 species, tree-climbers — 20 species, aerial hunters — 6 species; birds of prey include: soaring flyers — 3 species, fly-flyers — 6 species, hawks — 1 species, falcons — 3 species.

One-Year Monitoring of a Ground Heat Exchanger Using the In Situ Thermal Response Test: An Experimental Approach on Climatic Effects

The use of renewable energies, and of geothermal energy in particular, is increasingly being applied in Germany and Europe for the development of new residential districts. The use of geothermal borehole heat exchangers (BHE), in combination with ground-source heat pumps (GSHP), represents an important part of shallow geothermal systems, which are used, among other systems, in urban areas due to their small space requirements. Over the course of planning BHE systems, performance must be determined via the parameters of thermal conductivity, thermal capacity, undisturbed ground temperature, and borehole thermal resistance. These can be identified by the experimental approach known as thermal response testing (TRT). The thermal parameters change due to the influences of the seasonal temperature fluctuations that take place in the ground. In this paper, a pilot double-U BHE heat exchanger field with a depth of 120 m was investigated from this perspective. TRT was carried out using monthly measurements taken over the period of one year using an electrically powered mobile TRT device. The evaluation of the individual tests was carried out using the line-source, moving-line-source, and cylinder-source theories. Our results show that the season in which TRT was implemented had an influence on the determined thermal parameters, with better thermal conditions being obtained in winter months. This is especially visible for thermal conductivity, with monthly deviations of 0.1 W/(m∙K), independent of the evaluation approaches used.

Spatial accessibility analysis of green space from a health-benefit perspective: Implications for healthy urban development

The spatial accessibility of urban park green space (UPGS) plays a crucial role in promoting the healthy development of cities and their residents. However, previous studies have overestimated the accessibility of UPGS and failed to adequately consider the impact of variegated parks on residents’ needs. To fill this gap in the research, we first propose an improved two-step floating catchment area (Huff-2SFCA) method that takes into consideration the trade-offs between supply, demand, and walking time to calculate the UPGS accessibility index for the built-up area of Mianyang, China. Next, we assess the spatial characteristics of UPGS accessibility from both partial and overall points of view and further explore the relationship between accessibility and population size. Our results show that (1) every street area has a different form of UPGS construction, and most of these spaces are of poor quality; (2) municipal-level parks are significantly more accessible than district-level parks, community-level parks, or neighborhood-level parks; (3) the overall distribution of accessibility is generally characterized by a decreasing trend along both sides of the river, with poor overall accessibility; and (4) 243 residential districts are located in high-demand–low-supply areas that need improving. This study can be employed to identify areas that are underserved by UPGS and can provide a basis for improving the accessibility of UPGS and promoting its health benefits.

Efficacy of Korea’s Diagonal Plane Restriction for Daylight: Focusing on South-North Direction Blocks within Seoul’s General Residential Districts

Since the beginning of the 20th century, daylight access-related regulations have been an integral part of urban development. The Diagonal Plane Restriction in South Korea is one such regulation. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the policy by investigating buildings in General Residential Districts in Seoul and the factors that have influenced its success. First, selected buildings were analyzed based on their relative core locations, massing morphology, and the glazing proportions on the south elevations. The initial results showed that nearly 50% of the selected buildings had cores on the south side, thus limiting daylight infiltration to the habitable spaces with a glazing ratio under 30%. Secondly, binary logistic regression was performed between identified types and variables to identify the primary factors affecting the ineffective arrangement. The year of a building’s construction and its primary use can significantly predict the effective applicability of a restriction. Lastly, further descriptive analysis shows how policy changes directly contributed to the growth of low-performing types and commercial uses in residential districts. The results of this study point to the shortcomings of urban policy-making without considering the particulars of each urban context. Our findings could assist planners and policy-makers in redesigning regulations for ensuring optimal daylight access in residential districts.

ESTIMATES OF SURFACE CHANGES OF HEATING HEAT EXCHANGERS FOR INDIVIDUAL HEAT STATIONS WHEN THE TEMPERATURE CHART OF DISTRIBUTION HEAT NETWORK IS CHANGED

The aspects of the functioning of centralized heating systems of residential urban districts after additional insulation of this district existing buildings were considered. The influence of the heat carrier temperature in the district distribution heating network on the heat transfer surface of the heat exchangers that are installed in the individual heat station schemes with independent connection between buildings heating systems and heat networks was analyzed. Estimates were made for a plate heat exchanger with a counterflow pattern of heat carriers that are widely used in heat supply systems. Formulas have been obtained for calculating the heat exchange surface of the district water heater comparing to the surface of the "basic" design case of the heat exchanger, taking into account the district water temperature excess over the building heating water temperature. When finding the heat transfer coefficients in the channels of heat exchangers, known criterion equations for plate heat exchangers were used. The proposed formulas take into account the influence of the ratio of heat equivalents of the carriers flow rate through the heat exchanger and the decrease in heat consumption for heating as a result of building insulation. Buildings that were designed and built in accordance with the requirements for thermal resistance of enclosing structures that were actual several decades ago, after thermal modernization, should meet modern requirements for the thermal resistance of building structures. All estimates of the reduction in the buildings heating load were made in accordance with this approach. An analysis of the obtained results made it possible to propose some recommendations for the selection of district water calculated temperature differences at which a decrease in the heat transfer surface of the plate heat exchanger of the insulated buildings individual heat station can be expected. The proposed recommendations can be useful in developing a heat supply quality control schedule for a district buildings heating systems in a district when buildings thermal insulation process being completed.

Physical environment, species choice and spatio-temporal patterns of urban roadside trees in Hong Kong

Trees in the urban environment are affected by a range of place-specific environmental and cultural factors. Nevertheless, many factors interact with each other and produce high variabilities in urban forest structures, spatial configurations, and growing conditions within the urban fabric. The variabilities and relationships among these factors require a modelling framework that incorporates variables related to the spatio-temporal information of individual trees and site characteristics. Using roadside trees in a residential district in Hong Kong, this study examined their species compositions and spatial distributions among zones with various development histories. Structural equation modelling was applied to investigate the interactions among variables concerning the physical environment, temporal changes, species selection, spatial patterns, and tree sizes. A few abundant species dominated the urban forest, with uneven distributions of roadside tree densities and species-specific clusters found within the study area. The empirical results showed (i) the physical environment influenced the existence of roadside trees, the occurrence of specific species and tree growth; (ii) species selection mediated the influences of the physical environment on tree sizes and spatial patterns; (iii) despite the linkage between existing tree patterns and development histories, replacement plantings further modified the compositions and reflected a shift in preferences; (iv) the proximity to nearby urban structures and the spatial properties among planting locations were important factors in spatial planning. Hence, urban forest managers play a crucial role in mediating the interactions among physical drivers, planting histories, and tree performances. It is recommended that species diversity, especially native trees, should be promoted within the study area, while planting strategies matching site dimensions, species and attainable sizes should also be prioritised. By generalising the relative effects that determined the existing patterns of urban forests, the modelling framework can provide a strategic reference for target-oriented tree management in Hong Kong and other cities.

Hydrologic Performance of Low Impact Developments in a Cold Climate

The application of the low impact development (LID) in a cold climate such as northeastern China is constrained by two unresolved research questions with regards to its infiltration potential through the winter and its varied runoff regimes between winters and summers. This study picked a typical residential district under construction in Changchun, China, and modeled the storm drainage system with and without LID facilities based on the Storm Water Management Model. The hydrological performance of LID was evaluated through various design storms and historic rain events in dry, average, and wet years. The influence of the Horton and the Green–Ampt infiltration methods on the seasonal water budgets was particularly compared since the former is universally adopted in China while the latter is more widely used in the U.S. and other countries. The results indicate that the Horton method tended to generate a higher infiltration volume than the Green–Ampt method. Consequently, when driven by the 100-year design storm, the Horton method led to a 17.4% higher outflow than the Green–Ampt method; when driven by the measured 3-year precipitation in the study area, the yearly runoff coefficients, with regards to the Horton method, were at least 1.3 times higher than those modeled by the Green–Ampt method. This finding challenged the interchangeable use of the Horton and Green–Ampt methods without tests. Furthermore, the formation of snow covers in winter also reduced the permeability of LID and its capacity of managing runoff compared to summer. However, LID still exhibited a decent potential of regulating the winter runoff in the cold region compared to the baseline, possibly owing to the presence of frequent freezing-thawing cycles.

Understanding the drowsy driving crash patterns from correspondence regression analysis

Abstract: Drowsy driving-related crashes have been a key concern in transportation safety. In Louisiana, 14% (1,758 out of 12,512) of police-reported drowsy driving-related crashes during 2015–2019 resulted in injury (fatal, severe, or moderate). Amid the calls for action against drowsy driving by national agencies, it is of paramount importance to explore the key reportable attributes of drowsy driving behaviors and their potential association with crash severity. Method: This study used 5-years (2015–2019) of crash data and utilized the correspondence regression analysis method to identify the key collective associations of attributes in drowsy driving-related crashes and interpretable patterns based on injury levels. Results: Several drowsy driving-related crash patterns were identified through crash clusters – afternoon fatigue crashes by middle-aged female drivers on urban multilane curves, crossover crashes by young drivers on low-speed roadways, crashes by male drivers during dark rainy conditions, pickup truck crashes in manufacturing/industrial areas, late-night crashes in business and residential districts, and heavy truck crashes on elevated curves. Several attributes – scattered residential areas indicating rural areas, multiple passengers, and older drivers (aged more than 65 years) – showed a strong association with fatal and severe injury crashes. Practical Applications: The findings of this study are expected to help researchers, planners, and policymakers in understanding and developing strategic mitigation measures to prevent drowsy driving.

Droop control for district heating networks: Solution for temperature control of multi-energy system with renewable power supply

In a district heating system, the flow of heated water transfers enthalpy from the generation side to the load side. It is thus critical to maintain the supply temperature at a desired level. However, with the rise of renewable energy sources in the district heating network, the temperature of the heated water tends to be disturbed. This calls for a deployment of thermal energy storage. To effectively exploit the flexibility of thermal energy storage, the relationship between the temperature of the district heating water and the power sharing with other thermal energy resources is considered in this paper. Based on this relationship, the concept and realization of a droop control for the district heating network is proposed. It is shown how the droop characteristic between the temperature of the heated water and the power sharing of the thermal energy storage for the district heating network is developed in analogy to the droop control used in an electrical dc network. The droop characteristic so supports the control of a district heating network. The theoretical considerations are complemented by application to a residential district heating network model to illustrate the functionality of the control. The studies are conducted with the program PSCAD, which is otherwise typically used for simulating electromagnetic transients.

Generation of Phenomenal Interior Quality from Refurbishment of Commercial Spaces in Residential Areas

Commercial buildings in the residential districts are under rapid redevelopment because retail shopping activities are being replaced by community service, education, eating and dinning and experiential activities in China. This paper revealed three interior refurbishment projects aiming to recreating interior public spaces. Interior fitting has rapidly grown in the building industry. Product suppliers provide strong support for construction quality and intervene in architectural design decisions. Interior design, as independent work, promotes effective dialogue with clients, users and suppliers in the design process. It is a platform for quality by understanding the texture, lighting and atmosphere as the key area of control in design. The interior design of three projects of Baumschlager Eberle Architekten (BEA) Hong Kong Ltd, transforms the common areas of shopping centres in residential areas into interior public spaces. The paper introduces and evaluates the design methods of BEA architects to present and control design quality, especially for interior public spaces. The territory, material, visibility, rhythms and use and overall interior atmosphere are analysed with case studies based on the literature review on outdoor public spaces. The paper concludes that interior refurbishment is an independent level of design in the recreating ―publicness‖ in existing building structure. Only when conceptually free from the constraints of structure and façade can unique atmospheres be achieved through design, opening up further intervention in future.

Abitare lo spazio del corpo. Una riflessione empirica e uno sguardo antropologico sulle pratiche artistico-performative come dispositivo di risignificazione dello spazio pubblico

Starting from the idea that the body is not sufficiently taken into account in spatial design practices and that indeed the theory of corporeality lacks exactitude in the field of spatial design, this research discusses the role of the body in Western design culture and develops the proposal of a collaboration between urban design and the performing arts. The centrality given to the body by the latter, together with the possibility of re-inhabiting urban spaces in a synaesthetic and kinaesthetic way, as well as the possibility of involving citizens within participatory projects, lead to a collaboration between the two disciplines in order to build a sensitive method, a performative urbanism operating in urban public spaces. The case study examined, in the residential district of Isolotto in Florence, verifies the usefulness of such a collaboration, which stands as an alternative to the usual disembodied practices of urban planning. The possibility of using the body as a device for reading and measuring space through bodily-artistic-performative actions can become an opportunity yet to be explored for urban design for spaces composition and re-signification.

One-Kilometer Walking Limit during COVID-19: Evaluating Accessibility to Residential Public Open Spaces in a Major Saudi City

Considering the significance of physical activities in maintaining physical and mental well-being, several nations made exceptions during the COVID-19 lockdowns and allowed residents to walk outdoors, but with time and distance restrictions that varied across countries. This study aimed to identify if such regulations provided residents with equal access to public open spaces (POS) to engage in physical activity during the lockdown. Using a mixed research method (secondary descriptive data, field observations, and spatial analysis), we assessed the one-kilometer walking limit imposed on six typical existing neighborhoods in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia. We find that the imposed one-kilometer limit was effective in providing accessibility, and the four urban factors ensured the effectiveness of the imposed walking distance: the small scale of residential districts in comparison to the long-imposed walking distance; the presence of neighborhood parks near main local streets; the distribution of neighborhood parks throughout the districts; and the absence of major highways that physically isolated residential districts. Notably, regulations related to walking distances during future pandemics should not be generalized to all cities; instead, they should be based on the existing availability of relatively good POS provisions with easy and equal access to all community members to enhance social sustainability.

Factors Affecting the Succession of Parental Residences in Suburban Residential Districts in Metropolitan Areas by Nearby Child Households

Factors Affecting the Succession of Parental Residences in Suburban Residential Districts in Metropolitan Areas by Nearby Child Households

Effectiveness of inactivated and Ad5-nCoV COVID-19 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA. 2 variant infection, severe illness, and death

BackgroundLimited data are available on the effectiveness of inactivated and Ad5-nCoV COVID-19 vaccines in real-world use—especially against Omicron variants in SARS-CoV-2 infection-naïve population.MethodsA matched case-control study was conducted among people aged ≥ 3 years between 2 December 2021 and 13 May 2022. Cases were SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals, individuals with severe/critical COVID-19, or COVID-19-related deaths. Controls were selected from consecutively test-negative individuals at the same time as cases were diagnosed and were exact-matched on year-of-age, gender, birthplace, illness onset date, and residential district in ratios of 1:1 with infected individuals and 4:1 with severe/critical COVID-19 and COVID-19-related death. Additionally, two subsets were constructed to analyze separate vaccine effectiveness (VE) of inactivated vaccines (subset 1) and Ad5-vectored vaccine (subset 2) against each of the three outcomes.ResultsOur study included 612,597 documented SARS-CoV-2 infections, among which 1485 progressed to severe or critical illness and 568 died. Administering COVID-19 vaccines provided limited protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection across all age groups (overall VE: 16.0%, 95% CI: 15.1–17.0%) but high protection against severe/critical illness (88.6%, 85.8–90.8%) and COVID-19-related death (91.6%, 86.8–94.6%). In subset 1, inactivated vaccine showed 16.3% (15.4–17.2%) effective against infection, 88.6% (85.8–90.9%) effective against severe/critical COVIID-19, and 91.7% (86.9–94.7%) against COVID-19 death. Booster vaccination with inactivated vaccines enhanced protection against severe COVID-19 (92.7%, 90.1–94.6%) and COVID-19 death (95.9%, 91.4–98.1%). Inactivated VE against infection began to wane 12 weeks after the last dose, but two and three doses sustained high protection levels (> 80%) against severe/critical illness and death, while subset 2 showed Ad5-vectored vaccine was 13.2% (10.9–15.5%) effective against infection and 77.9% (15.6–94.2%) effective against severe/critical COVIID-19.ConclusionsOur real-world study found high and durable two- and three-dose inactivated VE against Omicron-associated severe/critical illness and death across all age groups, but lower effectiveness against Omicron infection, which reinforces the critical importance of full-series vaccination and timely booster dose administration for all eligible individuals.

Research of practical heat mitigation strategies in a residential district of Beijing, North China

The purpose of this study is to investigate different heat mitigation strategies and determine the optimal choice for old neighborhoods renovation. A residential building with the parking lot in front of it was selected as the research object. Various critical factors affecting outdoor thermal condition, such as tree location, pavement material, wind speed and direction, “hedge” type, were simulated and examined with ENVI-met and Rayman model. Air temperature, mean radiant temperature (MRT), physiological equivalent temperature (PET) were used to assess the outdoor thermal comfort level. The results show that: 1) concrete replacing asphalt as pavement material could effectively lower air temperature; 2) planting trees on the west or south side is a better choice in creating a more thermally comfortable outdoor environment when available space is limited in the targeted area; 3) compared with wind direction, wind speed has a more significant influence on outdoor thermal condition; 4) water body's cooling efficiency is superior to that of grassland. The findings of this study could provide useful guidance in the process of renovating old neighborhood in the city.

Assessment of building design and overheating on occupants’ thermal comfort and energy performance considering self-build houses in a hot arid urban environment

In recent years, energy conservation issues, environmental problems and their consequences on public health have increased interest in climatic responsive design to achieve better thermal comfort conditions inside the building without enhancing energy consumption. As people spend most of their time in interior spaces, indoor thermal conditions significantly impact their health and wellbeing. Extended exposure to extreme temperatures might cause heat-related illnesses, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, or death. This paper evaluates the indoor thermal environment generated by the residential buildings’ fabric under overheating conditions. The study was conducted during the summer in a typical residential district in Biskra (Algeria). To assess the thermal response of the buildings’ fabric by taking into account the natural and social context of Biskra, as well as, the energy consumption behaviour of householders, a dynamic simulation study was performed over 115 self-build houses. The results showed that indoor thermal conditions in the analysed building were far from the optimum comfort air temperature except when using air conditioners. The most unfavourable conditions were reported in July and August when the air conditioners have to run full time to mitigate the effect of overheating. This implies that houses are poorly designed and failed to deal with overheating. To address with this issue, the residents are constrained to use air-conditioning most of the time to achieve thermal comfort which leads to increase in energy usage. Finally, despite the government reduced the cost of electricity and gas bills by 65% in southern provinces as a financial support for householders, serious problems of discomfort remain in the prevailing housing stock. Legislation and measures must be taken and enforced at provincial and local level regarding housing which should include energy efficiency and thermal comfort.

A novel risk-based design framework for urban heat island: A case study of Kempten, Germany

Studies on the urban heat island (UHI) effect have increased over the past decades, mainly focusing on topics such as thermal comfort, building energy, and sensitivity studies. However, there is currently a research gap in the development of risk-based design criteria for UHI. This paper proposes a novel risk-based UHI design criteria using heat-related mortality risk. The design criteria was developed based on the annual hottest seven-day mean temperatures. Frequency-consequence curves (or F–N curves) were used to quantify tolerable levels of societal risk. Exposure-response relationships for temperature and mortality for southern Germany were also used to determine the heat-related mortality rate. The heat-related mortality rate was used with the F–N curves to obtain a maximum allowable UHI intensity (UHII) for several risk scenarios. This allowable UHII was compared to the actual 50-year UHII for a residential district in Kempten, Germany. The Urban Weather Generator was used to model the UHII. If the actual UHII did not exceed the allowable UHII, the analyzed area was considered adequate. The 50-year UHII of the study area was 0.17 °C. The calculated allowable UHII ranged from 0.3 °C–13.2 °C. Therefore, the study area was adequate for all risk scenarios that were considered. This research lays the foundation for decision-makers and urban planners to incorporate more precise design targets in a number of applications from planning new developments to mitigation of UHI in existing urban areas.

Predicting future distributions and dispersal pathways for precautionary management of human-raccoon dog conflicts in metropolitan landscapes

Human-wildlife conflicts in cities are becoming increasingly common worldwide and are a challenge to urban biodiversity management and landscape planning. In comparison to compensatory management, which often focuses on addressing emergency conflicts, precautionary management allows decision-makers to better allocate limited resources on prioritized areas and initiate long-term actions in advance. However, precautionary approaches have rarely been developed or applied in biodiversity conservation. Since 2020, human-raccoon dog conflicts in Shanghai, one of the largest cities in the world, have tripled in reported number due to the rapid spread of the species in the city from 70 residential districts in 2020 to 249 residential districts in 2022. Here, we use ensemble and circuit modeling to predict suitable raccoon dog habitat and identify their potential dispersal pathways to aid the development of precautionary management strategies. We find that raccoon dog distribution is positively associated with several anthropogenic factors, including residential buildings and nighttime light, which could be signs that the species’ foraging behavior has adapted to the urban environment. We find that raccoon dogs only occupy 10.1% of its suitable habitat, and thus there is a high potential for the expansion of the raccoon dog population and more frequent human-raccoon dog conflicts in the near future. We predict 60 potential dispersal pathways across Shanghai, seven of which cross densely human populated areas and are likely to trigger excessive conflicts. Based on our findings, we propose priority areas where precautionary management strategies, such as constraining stray animal feeding and wildlife-vehicle collision prevention, would potentially alleviate human-raccoon dog conflicts. We present the first study on the precautionary approach of human-wildlife conflict in China’s major cities, and provide a practical example of how comprehensive modeling approaches can be used as the foundation of precautionary management in urban landscapes.

Striving for normality: Agency, citizen participation and intergroup belonging on the urban periphery of Helsinki

This article examines how the inhabitants of a culturally diverse suburban estate in Finland strive for meaningful encounters in their lives. The focus is on Kontula, a residential working-class district on the eastern periphery of Helsinki, which has become a powerful symbol of the ills of contemporary urbanity—poverty and social problems, as well as rootlessness and the failed integration of the immigrant populations—in the vernacular geography and media representations of the city. I studied how everyday mobility in an increasingly segregated city is related to a range of qualities of sociocultural encounters, both within the immediate neighbourhood and across other urban areas. I argue that for many marginalised inhabitants, agency predominantly emphasises striving for normality, not a challenge to the system. This is why it is so rarely recognised. Themes such as common decency, meaningful activity and equal encounter are much more typical aims of everyday practises than those focussing on changing the conditions. The contexts explored range from the familiar and neighbourly surroundings characterised by high degree of cultural intimacy and effortlessness to spaces with unfamiliar expectations and very different cultural codes. How do people living on the stigmatised periphery establish sense of belonging in a segregated city? How is it possible retain a sense of decency and dignity in unpredictable circumstances? During my long-term ethnographic fieldwork in the area, I concentrated on the qualities of encounters and senses of agency. These are interweaved with the inhabitants' everyday life, realised in their movement across the city and vary considerably in different contexts, reproducing the quotidian urbanity of Helsinki.

Values and implications of building envelope retrofitting for residential Positive Energy Districts

Most of Europe’s building stock is labelled inefficient. This calls for building envelope retrofitting to reduce energy demand and emissions. Positive Energy Districts (PED) aim for urban decarbonisation by generating more renewable energy within the district boundaries than they import from the grid. Such an ambitious requirement needs energy-efficient building stock as a basis. Thus, this work analyses the economic, environmental and grid-related values of building stock retrofitting in electrified PEDs. To do so, this study uses mixed-integer linear programming to compare different optimised PEDs across European climate zones, settlement densities and building standards. Results indicate that retrofitting for PEDs is essential in districts located in colder climates and dense settlement patterns such as in northern European urban areas. Furthermore, building envelope retrofitting benefits energy flexibility towards the grid and reduces CO2 emissions. Finally, this study determines a specific PED retrofitting threshold cost, depending on climate, population density and the electricity tariff. Thus this work unveils essential information about building envelope retrofitting for PEDs during the planning phase.