Quantification of the openness of urban external space through urban section

ABSTRACT

For the urban built environment, the shape characteristics of the external space are of decisive significance. However, what is commonly referred to as open space is more of a definition of social attributes. Therefore, in the research on urban environments, especially in urban microclimate, the study of a microclimate’s correlation with open space easily produces deviations. The identification of the openness of an external space based on a direct quantitative description is an important prerequisite for the cognitive urban form. In this study, based on the height-to-width ratio (HWR) of different directional sections of external space, areas with high openness in an urban space are extracted by the threshold value. In the case analysis of different areas in Nanjing, China, the results showed that the method is effective and convenient. The results of the analysis can also be used more widely in the urban design and research.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban external space
• urban section
• openness
• height-to-width ratio

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on reasonable request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51578277] and the Major Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51538005].

Notes on contributors

Ziyu Tong

Ziyu Tong is an associate professor in School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University. His research interests include computer aided architectural design, GIS and spatial analysis, urban morphology, and urban microclimate.

Huawu Yang

Huawu Yang is a graduate student in School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University. His research interests include computer aided architectural design and urban morphology.

Chen Liu

Chen Liu is a graduate student in School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University. His research interests include computer aided architectural design and big data analysis.

Tingting Xu

Tingting Xu is a graduate student in School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University. Her research interests include architectural design and multi agent simulation.

Sha Xu

Sha Xu is a graduate student in School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University. His research interests include computer aided architectural design, smart city, and big data analysis.