Parametric Urbanism in Optimising Outdoor Thermal Comfort of Urban Spaces

In the last decades, parametric design has developed greatly, and its goals have expanded to include environmental, social and other goals. Due to the urban expansion that Egypt is currently witnessing; besides climate change, this research aims to use parametric urbanism in optimizing outdoor thermal comfort for urban spaces located in hot arid climates. To achieve this aim, simulation methodology was used to assess outdoor thermal comfort and deduce the most important factors affecting it in the hot arid climate. The simulation was conducted on 120 different cases of a hypothetical urban space using ladybug tools. It was found that outdoor thermal comfort can be greatly optimized by decreasing sky view factor, and increasing the floor area ratio. It was also found that the surrounding urban context has an important role in influencing the outdoor thermal comfort. Lastly, the simulation concluded that the eastern and western sides have a significant impact on the outdoor thermal comfort in the summer, in contrast to the northern and southern sides, which have little effect.