The Development of an Interdisciplinary Planning Framework to Support Climate-Responsive Urbanism

Commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), this ongoing research (March 2023–present) focuses on embedding urban climate knowledge into planning policy. The work is structured across three stages and has informed the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), (Spring 2025) and the development of supplementary planning guidance for climate-responsive urbanism.

Stage 1 Reviewed the environmental impacts of urban density and identified planning gaps, between Density, Urban Climate, and Planning.

Stage 2 Advanced this by demonstrating links between urban density, intra-urban climates, and urban climate outcomes.

The current Stage 3 builds on these insights, developing a planning policy supplement that integrates current neighbourhood street scale urban climate research findings into a framework to guide urban planning decisions.

Current planning policies primarily focus on development at the building scale, often overlooking the independent urban climate outcomes microclimate interactions within urban environments. This research underscores the critical role of built form in shaping two fundamental urban climate processes:

1) Thermal Effects - involving the energy balance of the urban surface, and

2) Airflow Dynamics — governing exchanges between urban surfaces and the atmosphere.

By integrating these principles, this research advances the development of a Preliminary Planning Framework, which evaluates built form typologies, canyon geometry, and density variations aim to guide climate-responsive urbanism. The framework systematically assesses how urban configurations modify thermal and airflow dynamics, providing insights for optimizing ventilation, mitigating overheating, and enhancing microclimate resilience.

This work represents a pioneering integration of urban climate science, planning, and design, offering practical guidance for achieving balanced urban density. By embedding climate-responsive strategies within national policy, it supports the creation of resilient, adaptive urban environments that address both abiotic and biotic  factors.