Conference article

Urban physical environments will face up to the challenges posed by global climate change. Various software packages for urban environmental simulation have been created to aid predictions of design performance under climate change conditions as understood today. However; the outputs from these simulation packages present great difficulties for planners; architects and urban designers working in urban neighbourhood projects. Furthermore; designers lack proper tools to bring the outdoor and indoor simulation results together to form an integrated picture at the urban neighbourhood level. It is vital that designers are enabled to achieve such a holistic understanding of their design consequences simply because those indoor and outdoor environments are constantly interconnected with each other. This paper presents this pilot study on setting up an environmental visualization methodology of global climate change at a local scale and how it can be applied to a real urban neighbourhood development project proposed for a site in the City of Cairo; Egypt. The result shows an initial step of addressing the urgent need for a practical visualization modelling platform accessible to urban designers; architects; and decision makers towards sustainable urban forms.

Urban neighbourhood; Outdoor-indoor climate coupling; Sustainable urban neighborhood developments.