Quantifying Residential Neighborhood Layout Impact on Pedestrian Wind Environment: CFD Analysis Across China’s Major Climate Zones

Abstract

This study establishes quantitative relationships between neighborhood layouts, as evaluated by key neighborhood morphological parameters and pedestrian wind environments across China’s five major climate zones. We analyzed 3204 residential neighborhoods using satellite imaging and simulated 281 scenarios by CFD simulations, identifying six typical neighborhood layouts and quantifying their performance in terms of climate specific wind comfort criteria. This work takes an approach that takes into account mechanical wind effects and region-specific criteria for evaluating pedestrian-level wind environment performance, going beyond previous studies that utilize universal evaluation standards. The most influential parameter is building enclosure ratio with sensitivity indices of 0.844 for winter wind proofing. Closed perimeter layout confers 15–20% better winter wind proofing in cold climates and semi-open design enhances summer ventilation by 12–18% in hot climates according to our cross-climate analysis. Quantitative optimization adopting regression technique (R2 = 0.727–0.810) points to an optimal enclosure ratio of 0.25–0.28 or 0.52–0.61 with aspect ratio of 1.75–2.75. The results can provide evidence-based design guidelines for high-rise residential neighborhood planning and pedestrian wind environment, aiming to improve urban livability and support climate adaptation strategies across a broad range of climate zones.