Discussion on the Applicability of Urban Morphology Index System for Block Natural Ventilation Research

Studies are still required to understand the relationship between the wind situation and the block form. Yet prior to this kind of study, selecting an urban spatial morphology indicator system that could not only describe the change of block form precisely but also have a good relativity with the changing mean wind speed caused by the former, which is a reasonable breakthrough point for exploring the relationship between the block form and the wind environment, is necessary. Consequently, this paper intends to find a series of proper urban spatial morphology indicator systems, and then and to discuss the applicability of these systems for block ventilation research. Through extensive literature survey, two groups of urban spatial morphology indicator systems are selected. One of the systems consists of rugosity, porosity, and sinuosity, which is proposed by Luc Adolphe. Another system is obstruction ratio, which is more popular in China, and appears in urban residential thermal environment design standards. The method of CFD is introduced to quantitatively analyze the link between the changing wind condition and the changing block form. Finally, we establish the relationship between urban spatial morphology indicator systems and the wind condition to select the proper indicator system for block ventilation research. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.