Analysis of micro-climate for the scheme of green infrastructure regeneration in Jeonju

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to carry out a micro-climate analysis before and after applying Green Urban Block System (GUBS) for urban infrastructure regeneration to analyze a differential of wind flow and thermal environment, and thereby to quantitatively estimate its effectiveness. "Green Urban Block System", including green technologies for urban infrastructure is to maximize the resource recycling, to improve the efficiency and to connect every environmental infrastructure associated with water, waste and energy at urban block unit. GUBS has an easy applicability because it is designed to be installed block by block in a field whereas building a large, centralized system for urban infrastructure regeneration requires an enormous initial capital investment. To implement the micro-climate analysis, various data such as land use, topography, height and materials of building, and weather conditions are collected. The results of micro-climate analysis are estimated by the outputs of fluid simulation for pathway of cold wind and thermal variation. There are three programs for green urban regeneration in Jeonju: the river restoration project, traditional market revitalization project, and eco-school project of Jeonju Primary School. These programs are implemented not only to maximize the resource recycling but also to revitalize the urban core. The results of micro-climate analysis are as follows. The height from the ground level of cold wind was much elevated, and the wind speed increased up to 0.12m/s due to the expansion of waterfront space and grassland through three programs. Therefore, the temperature at the ground level dropped to 1.62°C. Based on these results, it was found that the three programs for green urban regeneration improved the urban environment of wind and temperature at ground level and are capable of reducing the urban heat island and might mitigate the energy consumption at an urban core. © 2013 WIT Press.