Engineering

Urban planning

Statistics

Materials science

Archaeology

Civil engineering

Spatial distribution

Microclimate

Urban morphology

Floor area ratio

Aspect ratio (aeronautics)

Correlation coefficient

Physical geography

Geology

Wind speed

Mathematics

Geography

Positive correlation

Thermal

Negative correlation

Internal medicine

Environmental science

Remote sensing

Composite material

Medicine

Meteorology

Atmospheric sciences

Sustainable Cities and Society

Variation in urban microclimate is closely related to the three-dimensional characteristics of cities. To reveal the influence of urban spatial forms on land surface temperature (LST), the spatial distribution of LST and five urban morphology indicators were analyzed, namely floor area ratio (FAR), plot ratio (PR), absolute rugosity (Ra), mean aspect ratio (λc), and sky view factor (SVF). Based on correlation analysis and numerical simulations, the influence of three-dimensional characteristics on the urban thermal environment of Dalian, China was then analyzed. The results showed that in Dalian, LST ranged from 23.2–50.7 °C, and Moran's I was 0.94, indicating that LST presents a strong spatial positive correlation. The buildings in the study area were mainly multi-story and high-rise buildings and mostly distributed in a medium-density area. LST exhibited the highest positive correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.569) with FAR and was negatively correlated with SVF (correlation coefficient =−0.270). The simulation results showed that in the medium density range (FAR <0.6), an increase in FAR changed the wind speed, thereby affecting the urban thermal environment. The results demonstrate the influence of urban morphology on the thermal environment and provide scientific ideas for future planning and construction of “cool cities”.

Influence of urban morphological characteristics on thermal environment