Climate-Responsive Design Guidelines For Urban Open Spaces In Hot Arid Climates

Urban heat is a common challenge for many cities, especially in hot arid climate regions as they experience high average air temperatures compared to other climate types. Hot arid cities also have common climate issues such as drought and flash floods. Climate-responsive design can be implemented by spatial designers (i.e., landscape architects and urban designers) to address these issues and, hence, improve outdoor thermal comfort. Design guidelines can assist spatial designers when designing urban open spaces in hot arid.
The goal of this study is to develop climate-responsive design guidelines for urban open spaces in hot arid regions. Two methods were employed to fulfil the goal of this study: 1. A systematic literature review; 2. Research for Design. The results show that different street aspect ratios and orientations require careful selection of climate-responsive design strategies in urban open spaces in hot arid cities to provide daytime and night-time outdoor thermal comfort. Also, it is essential to incorporate common climate issues such as drought and flash floods in climate-responsive design guidelines. Presenting design guidelines spatially was considered
useful to communicate these guidelines to spatial designers.