UEQ - simulations, visualizations and evaluations of future sustainable urban environments

Research Project, 2020 – 2023

C urrent urban design practice in Sweden fairly addresses noise and wind comfort but not the impact of green areas on thermal comfort and air quality in public spaces. Up to now, the assessment of these critical issues of urban environmental quality (UEQ) has typically been led by outside experts in the final stages of the urban
planning, when further strategic interventions are not possible. This project investigates how a state-of-the-art digital tool, entitled IPS IBOFlow can be used to integrate expertise and stakeholders in the early stages of urban planning and design, to achieve high UEQ for the majority of citizens. The final results include a practical urban
design tool with unique features in terms of spatial resolution and computational speed, and new guidelines to demonstrate and evaluate the best strategies to enhance UEQ in public spaces. The findings will be tested and evaluated on an urban case study in Gothenburg, together with urban planners and stakeholders. The specific objectives are i) to upgrade IPS IBOFlow with models for heat and pollution transport to enable fast and accurate
simulations of UEQ in public spaces to facilitate any stage of urban planning; ii) to develop a physical understanding of the interplay between UEQ and urban comfort, and to communicate the identified qualities and risks through easily comprehensible visual representations. The team involves several researchers and
practitioners with highly complementary knowledge backgrounds.