Solar obstruction assessment model for densely forested urban environments

Abstract

Cities display an array of microclimates closely related to the composition of their surfaces and the relationships among their structures. The effect of the shadow cast by a high-rise building is a simple case of this situation. The incidence of the shadow on other buildings or urban spaces can be positive or negative, according to the bioclimatic requirements of the place and season. The understanding of the cause of these effects is key information that helps when planning new urban complexes or refurbishing existing ones. In climates with high space heating demands, precise assessment of the available solar resource is of vital importance. In order to cope with this requirement, a predictive methodology based on the processing of digital images of the sectors to be analysed has been developed. Although there are other computational methods available for this task, they are not adequate to the assessed areas' features, because of the relevant incidence of urban forest in this case.

Temporal and spatial variation in garden and street trees in six eastern Australian cities

“…Variation in climate might have influenced local government perceptions of the utility of street trees, particularly environmental services or disservices related to shading (Mesa et al, 2010) and possibly potential maintenance costs in storm-prone areas (Jim and Liu, 1997). However, it seems more likely that there were cultural differences between times and cities that were expressed through the action or inaction of local government.…”

Urban Ecosystem Disservices in the Global South

“…Ecological impacts are UED that negatively affect ecosystem structure, processes and/or the services that they provide, such as temperature regulation, pollution or biological control (von Döhren and Haase 2015), as well as certain UED associated with birds, insects and animals. Numerous studies have highlighted the benefits of street trees for regulating temperature during summer months, however during winter months the opposite is true and shading can decrease the possibility for urban residents to access sunlight (Mesa et al 2010;Roy et al 2012;Lyytimäki 2014Lyytimäki , 2017. For example, in Christchurch (NZ), 8-9% of the respondents stated that they removed trees from their property because they shaded their garden (9%) or home (8%) (Guo et al (2019).…”