Improvement of Air Quality and Thermal Environment in an Old City District by Constructing Wind Passages

Sustainability

Chong Peng¹  Chu Li¹  Zuyu Zou¹  Suwan Shen²  Dongqi Sun³ 

[1] School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; E-Mails:;Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA;Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

关键词: urban renewal;    wind passage;    air ventilation;    thermal comfort;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su70912672

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

A case study in an old city district with hot-humid climatic conditions in Wuhan, China was conducted to explore the potential renewal strategies favorable to the local residents and pedestrians. For this purpose, a comprehensive mathematical model considering the parameters such as ambient crosswind, solar radiation, natural convection, and a previously established heat transfer mechanism was employed to analyze the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of the study area. In addition, in the urban renewal process, five alternative renewal strategies, namely, Central Demolition (CD) Plan, Edge Demolition (ED) Plan, Wedge Shape Demolition (WSD) Plan, “L” Shape Demolition (LSD) Plan, and Cross Shape Demolition (CSD) Plan, were adopted to improve the thermal and ventilation environment of Wuhan old city district. Through simulation analysis, the temperature and velocity distributions of the original urban layout and five alternative renewal strategies were compared. It is found that the construction of an air passage within the old city district can improve the local air quality, air ventilation, and thermal environment to some extent. Among the five alternative strategies to construct air passages, CSD Plan is much better than the others. Accordingly, corresponding suggestions and strategies for urban renewal were presented.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.