Defining Representative Street Typologies for Climate-Responsive Design: A Case-Based Approach in Hot Arid climates

Streets serve as the most prevalent form of urban open space, accommodating important physical and social activities. However, extreme summer conditions, particularly intense solar radiation during daytime hours in various climates, significantly compromise outdoor thermal comfort such as East–West-oriented streets in hot arid climates. These streets are more exposed to solar radiation throughout the day compared to other street orientations. Despite existing research emphasizing implementing climate-responsive design interventions aimed at heat stress prevention in urban open spaces, there is still no standardized methodology for defining representative street typologies (i.e., testbeds) suitable for testing such design interventions.

This research introduces a new methodology for defining representative East–West street typologies—referred to as testbeds—using geospatial data analysis. The novelty lies in the systematic extraction and categorization of street canyons based on street orientations and height-to-width (H/W) ratios, derived from geospatial datasets including GIS shapefiles. Five rapidly urbanizing cities in the Arabian Peninsula are selected as case studies due to their shared hot arid climate, geographical location (i.e., coastal cities), contemporary urban forms, and regional significance. These five cities are also different based on the location of the sea/gulf, presence of foothills, and the direction of prevailing winds.

The core research question guiding this study is: How can representative street typologies (i.e., testbeds) be systematically defined to reveal street patterns relevant to climate responsive design? By answering this, the study aims to establish a replicable methodology that can be used to define testbeds to develop relevant climate responsive design interventions.

This study addresses the lack of systematic testbed identification by developing a new methodology to systematically defining geometric characteristics of certain street orientations. This methodology can be replicable in other climate and urban contexts to define testbeds of representative street typologies. Evidence-based testbeds can inform thermal simulation studies, design guidelines, and policies aimed at improving the quality of life in increasingly urbanized cities.