Urban Morphology Research Articles

A Study on Spatial Differentiation of Landscape Pattern Based on Three-Dimensional Morphology of Urban Buildings

Abstract. Urban buildings are an important part of urban morphology, and building height has an important impact on the three-dimensional spatial morphology of cities. At present, research on the two-dimensional morphology of cities is relatively abundant, but there are fewer studies on the characteristics of the three-dimensional undulating morphology of cities and their spatial distribution patterns, and thus knowledge of the degree of utilization of the airspace above the city and its developmental pattern is still relatively lacking.Based on the multi-scale urban agglomeration, the landscape pattern is converted from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, and the overall spatial differentiation can be analyzed more intuitively. The purpose of this paper is to explore the three-dimensional spatial differentiation law of urban architectural landscape pattern. Through in-depth spatial analysis of the architectural landscape in urban areas, it is found that the landscape patterns in different areas show significant differences, and the interrelationship between them and the urban landscape pattern is revealed through the study of three-dimensional characteristics of urban buildings, such as height, density, form and layout. It is found that the different characteristics of urban buildings have a significant impact on the landscape pattern, which leads to the differentiation of urban space. This study provides more comprehensive spatial information for urban planning, contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of urban architectural landscapes, and provides a scientific basis for future urban design and planning.

How do the 3D urban morphological characteristics spatiotemporally affect the urban thermal environment? A case study of San Antonio

Urban landscapes, characterized by intricate interactions within a three-dimensional (3D) framework, give rise to complex mechanisms that underlie the Surface Urban Heat Island phenomenon. While global case studies have emphasized the impact of 3D urban morphological components on urban thermal environments, conducting quantitative assessments to identify spatial and seasonal variations in these relationships poses significant challenges. Based on Lidar and land cover dataset, this study first investigated the 3D urban morphology characteristics across nine components, and then assessed their spatial and seasonal impact on the urban thermal environment through Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). We found that Impervious Surface Fraction (ISF) has the greatest warming effect, whereas the Vegetation Coverage Fraction (VCF) exerts the strongest cooling influence on the thermal environment across all seasons. Building Height (BH) and Street Aspect Ratio (SAR) exhibit spatially varying cooling effects, while Building Number (BN) and Standard Deviation of Building Height (BH_SD) have minimal warming impacts. Additionally, the influence of BH on the thermal environment is significant primarily in areas characterized by higher building coverage. VCF has a stronger cooling effect in central regions with limited vegetation during spring and winter, but this effect diminishes compared to suburban ones in summer and autumn. These findings provide valuable insights into developing effective heat mitigation strategies at both city and community levels, ultimately fostering sustainable urban development.

Urban 3D building morphology and energy consumption: empirical evidence from 53 cities in China

The impact of building morphology on building energy consumption has been extensively studied. However, research on how 3D building morphology affects energy consumption at a macroscopic scale is lacking. In this study, we measured the mean building height (BH), mean building volume (BV), and mean European nearest neighbor distance (MENN) of the city to quantify the 3D building morphology. We then used a spatial regression model to analyze the quantitative impact of urban 3D building morphology on per capita electricity consumption (PCEC). Results indicate that at the macroscopic scale of the city, the BH and the MENN have a significant positive impact on the PCEC, while the BV has a significant negative impact on the PCEC. Moreover, the inclusion of the 3D building morphology greatly improves the model’s ability to explain building energy efficiency, surpassing the impact of traditional economic factors. Considering the 3D building morphology indicators together, buildings with a lower height, a larger volume, and a more compact 3D morphology have greater potential for energy savings and are more conducive to electricity conservation. This study offers valuable insights for the energy-efficient arrangement of buildings.

Litter in French urban areas-Part 2: transport dynamic and fluxes in stormwater.

Urban areas constitute a major hotspot of litter, including plastic litter, that stormwater can wash off towards waterways. However, few studies quantified and characterized litter densities in urban areas and fluxes transported by stormwater networks. Moreover, little information is available on litter transport dynamics in stormwater, and on the factors driving this transport. This study aims at characterizing and quantifying litter amounts transported by stormwater of two nested French urban catchments (total surface area of 105ha). Litter densities relative to land uses and rain events were investigated in the same catchments as in a compagnon paper (Ledieu et al., 2024). The present study explores the impact of rain events on the transport of urban litter in stormwater. Litter collection and characterization combined with a capture/recapture experiment using tagged litter placed in stormwater inlets show total litter fluxes of 29kg/year, in which 14kg/year are plastics, exported at the stormwater outlet. These fluxes confirm that stormwater runoff is a considerable pathway from urban surfaces to waterways, especially regarding small plastic litter (< 2.5cm). Item transport dynamic is however not linear and only 0.3% of the urban litter appear remobilized. Litter transport dynamics depends on several factors (urban litter densities, hydrometeorological parameters, item composition and morphologies, and stormwater management systems) that should be considered in global models.

Spatio-temporal analysis of LST, NDVI and SUHI in a coastal temperate city using local climate zone

Extreme heat due to changing climate poses a new challenge for temperate climates. The challenge is further aggravated by inadequate research, policy, or preparedness to effectively respond and recover from its impacts. While urban morphology is crucial in mitigating urban heat, it has received limited attention in urban planning, highlighting the need for further exploration, particularly in temperate regions. To illustrate the challenge and its potential mitigations, we use the example of the coastal temperate city of Cardiff. To establish the interrelations between urban morphology and urban heat island patterns, we explored the spatiotemporal variations in land surface temperature (LST), normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), and surface urban heat island (SUHI) to local climate zone (LCZ) classification for Cardiff. Results showed a significant variation in SUHI in the LCZ zones. Both LST and NDVI land were found to vary significantly across the LCZ zones demonstrating their association with the urban form and morphology of the locality. For built-up areas, a more compact built-environment with smaller vegetation cover and larger building density was 2.0 °C warmer than the open built-environment when comparing the mean summer LSTs. On average, the natural classes exhibit a LST that is 8.0 °C lower than the compact built-environment and 6.0 °C lower than the open built-environment. Consequently, the high-density, built-up LCZs have a greater SUHI effect compared to the natural classes. Therefore, temperate climate cities will benefit from incorporating an open built-environment that has sufficient greenery and open spaces. These findings help determine the optimal urban form for temperate climates and develop heat mitigation strategies while planning, designing, or improving the new and existing urban areas. In addition, the LCZ map applied in this study for Cardiff will enable international comparison and testing of proven climate change adaptation and mitigation techniques for similar urban areas.

Urban morphology as a key parameter for mitigating urban heat? – A literature review

Abstract More frequent and intense heat waves, especially in urban centers, represent a growing challenge for urban designers and building planners. In the last five years, extensive research has been undertaken on the relation between urban form, including density, and urban heat phenomena. Dense urban configurations are often considered central drivers of hot microclimates. However, less dense cities easily cause other ecological (e.g. land consumption), functional (public mobility), and socioeconomic (social diversity) problems. Consequently, the current panoply of recommended heat mitigation and sustainability measures constitutes an unclear basis for strategic planning decisions. Thus, this study examines the literature on urban morphology in relation to urban heat events. Around 800 scientific articles and studies are categorized regarding the applied methodology, the studied geographic location, the observed urban form parameters, and the examined thermal parameter. Most identified literature uses traditional field measurement, remote sensing, numerical simulation, or a combination. Air temperature and land surface temperature are the most observed thermal parameters, while the growing number of studies that focus on human outdoor thermal comfort is highly relevant for effective heat mitigation and adaptation. This study suggests that from a scientific point of view, urban morphology measures do not principally carry a paramount role in heat mitigation compared to other aspects, such as vegetation or materialization. Current planning approaches for climate-resilient cities are highly case-specific, where no generally applicable rules or effective recipes regarding urban built form are available.

A review of classified regional ventilation strategies based on urban morphology

A review of classified regional ventilation strategies based on urban morphology

Numerical Studies on the Influence of Building Morphology on Urban Canopy Wind Speed

AbstractBuildings increase the urban surface roughness and reduce near‐surface wind speeds in the urban canopy due to the drag effect. Urban heat storage and other effects cause urban warming as well, which decreases the urban boundary layer stability and enhances the turbulence exchange between upper and lower layer. As upper momentum is transported downward, the wind speed of urban canopy increases. Quantitative descriptions of these mechanisms are still lacking currently. This paper presents high‐resolution numerical simulation results of a mega city, Shanghai, China from 2016 to 2020 using the building effect parameterization in WRF (WRF‐BEP) with urban morphological parameters. The dynamic and thermal effects of building morphology on urban canopy wind speed were separated and their quantitative expression functions were given. The results indicate that the influence of building morphology on urban canopy wind speed is mainly dynamic resulting in a wind speed attenuation of approximately 50% and nearly constant. The thermal effect of building morphology on urban canopy wind speed increases with the urban heat island intensity, and the thermal effect could increase urban canopy wind speed by about 30% under the condition of strong urban heat island. The relative contributions of the dynamic and thermal effects of building morphology to urban canopy wind speed change with the wind speed. As wind speed increases, the contribution of the thermal effect of building morphology to urban canopy wind speed gradually decreases. This paper provides a quantitative relationship between the urban canopy wind speed variation and urban morphology, as well as urban heat island intensity.

Urban structure to determine equitable city growth for spatial justice: A case study of Chía-Bogotá, Colombia

The evolution of land use occupancy in various cities worldwide is swift. Land-use planning processes are still recent in most Latin American countries with significant socio-spatial inequalities. Due to rapid urban growth and real estate pressure, peri-urban areas of metropolises become susceptible to economic interests that can disrupt land use and municipal planning. Therefore, considering spatial justice, it is crucial to analyse possible future urban scenarios regarding socio-economic activities and their spatial distributions. This research seeks to define optimal locations and suitable urban growth areas, ensuring socio-spatial equity and justice. The study area is the municipality of Chia, on the outskirts of the metropolis of Bogota, Colombia, where the research proposes an analysis of urban morphology and the (social) intensity of activities and infrastructure. As a methodology, space syntax and the distribution of residential and non-residential activity data are applied through a predictive model. The study concludes that future mitigation of urban inequalities based on land use will be difficult to achieve owing to the location of urban sprawl areas.

Determining the Urban Morphology of Historical Settlements through Water Supply Lines: The Case of Eğrikapı Neighborhood

Determining the Urban Morphology of Historical Settlements through Water Supply Lines: The Case of Eğrikapı Neighborhood

Producing peripheries: morphology and habitability in the conurbations of Cuenca, Ecuador

The expansion of Latin American intermediate cities has left irregular and discontinuous occupation patterns in their peripheral territories. In appearance, the configurations of the urban edges do not have relevant differences. In fact, each morphological structure is heterogeneous and has its own behaviors, different occupation motivations, and diverse resulting consolidated models. In Cuenca, Ecuador, these diffuse zones between the urban and rural limits are marked by segregation dynamics and dependence on the consolidated center and have the lowest quality-of-life indexes in the city. In this context, the objective of the research was to find a possible relationship between the types of peripheral morphologies and the levels of urban habitability of four city urban centers, using a quantitative methodological design with a two-stage correlational scope. Initially, urban morphologies were classified, and the habitability levels were rated separately, applying independent instruments. Then, the results were cross-checked to describe possible links between variables. The findings highlight significant disparities in habitability between conurbations and define an apparent direct correlation between the two dimensions of analysis.

River valley urban network and morphology: A study on the urban morphology evolution of Lanzhou.

The present study investigates the dynamic evolution characteristics of urban spatial morphology by analyzing real road network data from 2000, 2010, and 2020, along with nighttime lighting data employing spatial analysis methods and spatial syntax models. Accordingly, two separate dimensions of urban morphology: internal and external, are covered. First, the integration and synergy of interior morphology features are analyzed using spatial syntactic modeling. Subsequently, the spatial compactness, fractal dimension, and level of center of gravity shift of the city are assessed by combining the nighttime lighting data with the earlier dataset. This analysis facilitated the deep exploration of the spatiotemporal evolution of the city's external morphology. Building upon this foundation, the interaction between the "internal and external" domains was analyzed further. The main findings of the study reveal a synchronous pattern of urban expansion throughout the evolution of urban spatial morphology. Furthermore, the urban form was observed to undergo a progressive transformation, transitioning from a "single core" morphology to a "primary and secondary double core" morphology. Over time, this development progressed and evolved into a "belt-like multi-core" structure. Additionally, the coupling characteristics further validate the relationship between the structure of the road network and the urban morphology in river valley-type cities. In particular, accessibility of dense and horizontally distributed transportation network was found to significantly influence the spatial development of these cities. As observed, the findings provides valuable insights into understanding the characteristics of internal and external associations regarding urban spatial patterns.

Enhancing Urban Land Use Identification Using Urban Morphology

Urban land use provides essential information about how land is utilized within cities, which is critical for land planning, urban renewal, and early warnings for natural disasters. Although existing studies have utilized multi-source perception data to acquire land use information quickly and at low cost, and some have integrated urban morphological indicators to aid in land use identification, there is still a lack of systematic discussion in the literature regarding the potential of three-dimensional urban morphology to enhance identification effectiveness. Therefore, this paper aims to explore how urban three-dimensional morphology can be used to improve the identification of urban land use types. This study presents an innovative approach called the UMH–LUC model to enhance the accuracy of urban land use identification. The model first conducts a preliminary classification using points of interest (POI) data. It then improves the results with a dynamic reclassification based on floor area ratio (FAR) measurements and a variance reclassification using area and perimeter metrics. These methodologies leverage key urban morphological features to distinguish land use types more precisely. The model was validated in the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration using random sampling, comparative analysis and case studies. Results demonstrate that the UMH–LUC model achieved an identification accuracy of 81.7% and a Kappa coefficient of 77.6%, representing an 11.9% improvement over a non-morphology-based approach. Moreover, the overall disagreement for UMH–LUC is 0.183, a reduction of 0.099 compared to LUC without urban morphology and 0.19 compared to EULUC-China. The model performed particularly well in identifying residential land, mixed-use areas and marginal lands. This confirms urban morphology’s value in supporting low-cost, efficient land use mapping with applications for sustainable planning and management.

Quantifying Urban Spatial Morphology Indicators on the Green Areas Cooling Effect: The Case of Changsha, China, a Subtropical City

Green city areas are crucial in mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI). However, the cooling effect of green city areas can be influenced by the surrounding complex urban spatial environment. This study focuses on Changsha, a subtropical city in China, where 40 green city areas were screened and analyzed. The study aims to quantify the specific impact of urban spatial morphology on the cooling effect of green city areas. Through statistical correlation and regression analysis, this study focused on six urban spatial morphology indicators: building density (BD), building floor area ratio (BFR), building volume density (BVD), building evenness index (BEI), building average height (BH), and building height standard deviation (BSD). The results indicate that the cooling effect of green city areas could be influenced by urban spatial morphology. Factors such as BD, BFR, BH, and BSD were found to be significantly correlated with the cooling effect of green city areas, with BH showing the strongest influence. BD and BFR were negatively correlated, while BH and BSD were positively correlated. The range values of BD, BFR, BH, and BSD were determined to achieve the optimal conditions for the cooling effect of green city areas. Additionally, the relative position of the green city areas in the neighboring urban areas affects the cooling effect of the green city areas. The cooling effect is most pronounced in the urban area situated to the south of the green city areas. These findings provide a solid foundation for urban planning around green city spaces and offer scientifically sound evidence for mitigating the UHI.

Study on the Morphological Analysis and Evolution of the Street Network in the Historic Urban Area of Changsha City from 1872–2023

This study focuses on the streets and spatial networks of the historic urban area in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, China, by mainly investigating the evolution of their geometric and topological characteristics. It draws on the theories and methods of urban morphology and space syntax, combines the digital historical maps at different times, and uses methods such as historical map spatial interpretation, geographic information system (GIS), sDNA tools, and urban morphological parameter analysis to explore and sort out the evolutionary process of the street and alley network in Changsha from the early modern period to the present. The paper constructs a parameter system for analyzing the street and alley network of historic urban areas from a geometric and topological perspective. It introduces the indicators of road density, road orientation, intersection density, and approaches such as closeness, betweenness, and intelligibility in space syntax into the parameter analysis framework of street and alley network morphology and spatial characteristics evolution. By comparing the changes in various parameters at different spatial scales, the process of the spatial order evolution of the street and alley network in the historic urban area is analyzed, and the evolutionary rules of the various periods’ morphological characteristics are extracted.

The impact of thermal mass on envelope heat loss in the caldarium of Yazd's traditional baths

Traditional Iranian bathhouses (hammams) represent remarkable examples of vernacular architecture optimized for thermal performance in hot arid climates. This study quantitatively evaluates and compares multiple passive heating strategies employed in hammams to mitigate envelope heat loss through thermal simulations of two exemplar cases - the Khan and Golshan baths in Yazd.A post-positivist research approach combined physical documentation, computational modeling using DesignBuilder V7.0.1.004 software, and quantitative analysis. Heat transfer through the caldarium (hot room) envelope was simulated sequentially, first without any heat retention strategies, then adding thermal mass, unconditioned buffer spaces, earth-coupling, and finally urban morphology factors.Results indicate thermal mass was the most effective approach in the studied Yazdi hammams, yielding 37.5 % and 37.3 % reductions in winter heat loss compared to 8.4 %, 5.3 %, and 1.8 % from unconditioned zones, earth-sheltering, and integrated compact urban fabric, respectively. Overall, leveraging thermal mass outperformed the combined impact of the other three strategies by over five times for these cases.The quantified insights highlight vernacular passive heating principles extracted from this historic architectural typology that can potentially inform sustainable high-performance building practices for hot arid regions.

Conditional Diffusion Model for Urban Morphology Prediction

Predicting urban morphology based on local attributes is an important issue in urban science research. The deep generative models represented by generative adversarial network (GAN) models have achieved impressive results in this area. However, in such methods, the urban morphology is assumed to follow a specific probability distribution and be able to directly approximate the distribution via GAN models, which is not a realistic strategy. As demonstrated by the score-based model, a better strategy is to learn the gradient of the probability distribution and implicitly approximate the distribution. Therefore, in this paper, an urban morphology prediction method based on the conditional diffusion model is proposed. Implementing this approach results in the decomposition of the attribute-based urban morphology prediction task into two subproblems: estimating the gradient of the conditional distribution, and gradient-based sampling. During the training stage, the gradient of the conditional distribution is approximated by using a conditional diffusion model to predict the noise added to the original urban morphology. In the generation stage, the corresponding conditional distribution is parameterized based on the noise predicted by the conditional diffusion model, and the final prediction result is generated through iterative sampling. The experimental results showed that compared with GAN-based methods, our method demonstrated improvements of 5.5%, 5.9%, and 13.2% in the metrics of low-level pixel features, shallow structural features, and deep structural features, respectively.

Examining the Morphological Change of Aksaray City in the Historical Process According to Upper-Scale Investment Decisions

As a result of both local and universal values that societies have created over the centuries, cities have been open to development and change. It is seen that the physical, social, cultural, economic and political factors that play a role in the change of cities affect the city in different ways in different periods. The study aimed to analyze the changes in the urban morphology of Aksaray according to upper-scale investment decisions. The research determined three investments that caused recent morphological development and change for Aksaray as breaking points. These are the opening of the Mercedes Factory in 1986, the establishment of Aksaray University in 2006, and the relocation of Aksaray Hospital in 2018. According to these three investment decisions, the morphological change of the city was investigated on an urban scale and periodically from an observer's perspective. Development plans and aerial photographs were used to reveal the periodic differences between these three investments that affect the morphological structure of the city. The morphological change in the city form in three different periods, 1986-2006, 2006-2018 and 2018-2024, was examined through the city perimeter and building blocks. The examination determined that with the increasing population in Aksaray, industry, health, education and management functions moved out of the city. From the opening of the Mercedes Truck Factory in 1986 to 2006, urban growth generally took place in the north-south direction. Although the city's orientation was towards the southwest after establishing Aksaray University in 2006, there was no intense interaction between the university and the city until 2018. Since 2018, with the New Hospital’s opening and the New Municipality’s construction, the city's influence area has completely shifted to the west. The city’s development is anticipated to continue in 2024 and beyond, depending on the newly constructed municipality service building.

Exploring the spatial association between the distribution of temperature and urban morphology with green view index.

Urban heat islands will occur if city neighborhoods contain insufficient green spaces to create a comfortable environment, and residents' health will be adversely affected. Current satellite imagery can only effectively identify large-scale green spaces and cannot capture street trees or potted plants within three-dimensional building spaces. In this study, we used a deep convolutional neural network semantic segmentation model on Google Street View to extract environmental features at the neighborhood level in Taipei City, Taiwan, including the green vegetation index (GVI), building view factor, and sky view factor. Monthly temperature data from 2018 to 2021 with a 0.01° spatial resolution were used. We applied a linear mixed-effects model and geographically weighted regression to explore the association between pedestrian-level green spaces and ambient temperature, controlling for seasons, land use information, and traffic volume. Their results indicated that a higher GVI was significantly associated with lower ambient temperatures and temperature differences. Locations with higher traffic flows or specific land uses, such as religious or governmental, are associated with higher ambient temperatures. In conclusion, the GVI from street-view imagery at the community level can improve the understanding of urban green spaces and evaluate their effects in association with other social and environmental indicators.

Enhancing Urban Living Convenience through Plot Patterns: A Quantitative Morphological Study

Enhancing Urban Living Convenience through Plot Patterns: A Quantitative Morphological Study