Coupling relationships between urban form and performance of outdoor environment at the pedestrian level: A case study of Dalian, China

Now little attention has been paid to using field measurements to explore the coupling relationships between urban forms and the outdoor environment in China. A cold northern city of China was chosen as the research city. The coupling relationships of 30 points between the urban morphology and Outdoor Environment Performance (OEP) at the pedestrian level were analyzed at different scales. Then five different function blocks of education, commerce, industry, residence and parks were selected as the ENVI-met simulation models. The results indicate that an area of 500 m range represents the suitable range to analyze the OEP, block size, building density, building height and green space are closely related. The simulation results indicate that air temperature, relative humidity and wind environment differ in land-use categories and urban forms. Urban forms significantly affect human health and comfort at the pedestrian level. This study proposes appropriate urban arrangements and building layouts to lessen the effects of UHIs in various land-use categories. This study contributes to architectural design and urban planning at the 500 m range of the city block. It provides a scientific basis for formulating construction planning principles and revising urban construction codes.