Assessment of Urban Design Scenarios from a Microclimatic Perspective and Recommendations for Climate-Sensitive Urban Design in a New Residential Site

This study investigates the impact of built environment features and vegetation on microclimatic conditions in Yıldızkent, a neighborhood of Erzurum, a cold-climate city in Turkey. Our research entails first creating one baseline and 20 different urban design scenarios with various built environment parameters and green spaces. Second, microclimatic conditions resulting from urban design scenarios were simulated for summer and winter using the ENVI-met program to test the impact of each identified parameter. The results show that building density and cluster type significantly affect the microclimatic conditions in summer, while an increase in green space is much more effective in regulating the temperature in winter. For some cities such as Erzurum, the microclimate comfort level is reached for them by cutting down the BCR by 50%, applying the linear-courtyard cluster type, as well as incorporating 50% of green areas. The solution is to decrease the values of BCR in 1.5 times compared to the primary scenario with maintaining the cluster type linear-courtyard layout for increased comfort of microclimate. For regions with cold climates, a linear-courtyard cluster type building organization is more advantageous than a molecular layout. Increasing the green area can greatly enhance microclimate comfort, especially during the winter season.