Mapping urban fabric for enhanced urban climate modelling based on a historical building classification

Abstract. The urban climate conditions are heavily influenced by the morphological and thermal properties of buildings. Recent studies have been focussed on the representation of urban morphology using standardised Local Climate Zones (LCZs) whereas relatively little research has been performed on the impact of thermal properties of buildings. Though useful for categorising and modelling urban climates, generic LCZ classes can have a low representativeness for local spatial heterogeneity while also not accounting for variations in building thermal properties.

Using Amsterdam (the Netherlands) as a case study, we develop an alternative classification of urban fabric based on construction period, historical construction practices and regulations. This HERITAGE classification consists of 10 distinct classes which we combine with 3D building model data, the Dutch cadastre and previous studies using GIS to derive their accompanying morphological traits. This approach offers a new method to create literature- and data-based urban classes with customised spatially varying morphological and thermal parameter values which are more representative of the real world compared to the LCZ approach. The HERITAGE-classes contain all necessary variables for conducting thermal and energy assessments as well as numerical modelling of the urban climate using for example the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.