The urban heat island (UHI) effect has drawn attention to monitor and evaluate outdoor thermal comfort in cities worldwide. The rapid, large-scale urban development in China is producing urban climate change in large cities, creating other urban environmental problems such as haze weather, which is one of the most important environmental issues in China. High-density building development will change the urban typology, leading to changes in the urban sky view factor (SVF) and microclimate. Since the energy consumed by indoor heating and air conditioning is highly related to the outdoor mean air temperature, a high SVF should be considered in the planning period. In this chapter, the typical urban planning styles in China are evaluated. Four microscaled residential and three commercial districts in Xi’an city are selected, to represent the typical urban typology of residential and commercial districts that developed during different historical periods and used the urban simulation system scSTREAM to evaluate the impact of urban renovation types on urban climate change.
Part of the book: Sustainable Cities