Towards Climate Adaptation in Cities: Indicators of the Sustainable Climate-Adaptive Urban Fabric of Traditional Cities in West Asia

Abstract

One of the most important criteria for a city’s sustainability is climate adaptation. Simultaneously, traditional cities in West Asia have achieved harmony between architecture and the environment, depending on the experience and culture of the local community, indicating a fundamental stage of adaptation to the environment and climate. This research attempted to study and examine the traditional urban fabric, in order to diagnose its significance and ability to solve contemporary problems, such as the lack of comfortable and suitable urban housing environments in hot–dry climate areas, which cover most of West Asia. We used two research methods to create an integrated vision to investigate the indicators and their effect on urban form. Four case studies in the urban fabric and housing communities of West Asia’s hot–dry research areas were chosen for the analytical study. Furthermore, inductive analysis was carried out to determine the most critical sustainability parameters in the particular urban fabric. The climate response parameters of the study cities were evaluated using Ecotect simulation tools, and the determinants of sustainability indicators were quantitatively evaluated to assess each indicator’s impact on the sustainability of the urban fabric. Our findings have implications for assessing the relevance of climate adaptation in the sustainability of cities and their effectiveness in combating the impacts of climate change.

Definition and characteristics of climate-adaptive cities: a systematic review

“…These statistics are projected to rise in the future [ 1 ]. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, urban areas face challenges such as excessive energy and resource consumption, waste generation, crime, social and cultural instability, and the ongoing global population growth, all contributing to the complexities of climate change impacts [ 3 ]. Consequently, cities are at the forefront of addressing climate change challenges [ 1 , 4 ], with many researchers considering them indispensable in this regard [ 5 ].…”

Impact and Challenges of Reducing Petroleum Consumption for Decarbonization

“…Considering studies focusing on the viewpoint of impacts of climate change in cities and countries, Nishiura et al [22] estimated the economic impact of achieving the 1.5 • C target in Asian countries and mitigating the economic impact of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Alabsi et al [23] proposed a sustainability index to evaluate climate change impacts and the effectiveness of adaptation in traditional West Asian cities. Liu et al [24] analyzed the impact of urban sprawl on carbon emissions per capita in China.…”

“I’m Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets in, and Stops My Mind from Wandering”: Approaching Sustainable Climate Change Adaptations

“…generated with AMS Word template 1.0 climate change adaptation research occurring within the social sciences in general and human geography in particular.Sustainable adaptation has received considerable attention within research on housing and urban areas, where it has been used to address urban and spatial planning(Hurliman et al 2014;Jeong 2018;Santhia et al 2018), urban resource management(Sørup et al 2019), the building sector(Bullen 2004;Love a. Bullen 2009;Remøy a. Wilkinson 2012;Wilkinson 2014;Alabsi et al 2016), urban green spaces(Drlik a. Muhar 2009), urban climate change mitigation and adaptation(Hritonenko a. Yatsenko 2022) as well as more general urban processes and areas(Alabsi et al 2021; Reckien et al 2009). More recently, the concept has also been used to analyze more human-centered questions of justice and poverty(Fiak et al 2021;Donderer 2021), such as displacement(Barua et al 2017;Lei et al 2017).…”