The Influence of Diverse Building Height and Building Coverage Ratio on Outdoor Thermal Performance in Hot Climates: A Review

Abstract

Although urban form can significantly affect outdoor climatic conditions, urban planners do not sufficiently consider such impact while designing new urban communities in Egypt. Proper configuration of urban blocks can make positive contribution to alleviating the adverse effects of urban climate. However, new cities are constructed to be formed from lowly dense buildings that overlook curvilinear streets networks without considering orientation. Furthermore, the use of unified building heights, spaces of low aspect ratio and high sky view factor lead to less shaded areas. The research at hand aims to shed light on literature that discuss urban form parameters and their relation with outdoor spaces thermal performance in warmer climates. These studies are classified, analysed and compared in terms of the investigated parameters, and the methodological approach of each study. The findings can help defining gaps in the existing literature while providing holistic overview of the current state of art.