Analysis of sustainable urban forms for climate change adaptation and mitigation

• Published in: Environmental and sustainability indicators Vol. 22; p. 100337
• Main Authors: Kang, Seung-Won, Lee, Moon-Suk, Jung, Ju-Chul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.06.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Climate change adaptation; Climate change mitigation; Sutainablility; Urban form; Urban form simulation; Urban form; Urban form simulation; Climate change mitigation; Climate change adaptation; Sutainablility
• ISSN: 2665-9727; 2665-9727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2024.100337

The purpose of this study is to discuss sustainable urban forms by elucidating the relationship between urban form and various climate change risks. Firstly, it comprehensively addresses three climate change risks to unveil trade-offs related to the impact of urban form on climate change risk. Secondly, it distinguishes itself from prior research by conducting analyses at two levels, using variables and cities, to control the contradiction where a single urban form exhibited varying impacts on specific climate change risks in previous research. The research methodology comprises two main processes: regression analysis and simulation analysis. The regression analysis assesses the influence of each urban form variable on climate change risks, while the simulation analysis explores effective urban forms for mitigating climate change risks at the city level, beyond the variable-level analysis. According to the analysis results, it was evident that the urban type characterized by the most dispersed structure exhibited the highest vulnerability to flood damage. For urban heat island risk, the intensity of urban heat islands increased when cities possessed a single-center and highly continuous urban spatial structure. Moreover, regarding greenhouse gas emissions risk, cities exhibiting a dispersed structure, unequal distribution, and a single-center spatial configuration were found to experience higher greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. Additionally, a trade-off related to dispersion was observed between flood risk and urban heat island intensity. To optimize synergies among various urban form policies and minimize trade-off effects among different urban form attributes, diverse approaches should be considered. •Urban forms that are sustainable to climate change risks were explored from the two perspectives of climate change adaptation and mitigation.•Through the regression analysis process, the effect of urban type characteristic variables at the urban level on floods, UHI intensity, and GHG emissions was analyzed.•In the simulation analysis process, a virtual city type was created to evaluate the risk of climate change, which was used to compare with actual cities.•The results of this study show various types of trade-offs on the sustainability of urban forms.•Appropriate measures such as size, degree of dispersion, centrality, and connectivity must be combined to obtain the maximum benefit of urban resilience to climate change issues