Improving Urban Planning in a Middle Temperate Argentinian City: Combining Urban Climate Mapping with Local Climate Zones

Abstract

Promoting the generation of sustainable cities is the main objective of an urban climatologist. To incorporate urban climate knowledge into urban planning, it is necessary to create instruments that summarize the relationship between meteorological parameters and urban form and function. This chapter shows the urban climate of the city of Tandil, Argentina, and its relations with land cover. The main objective is to present an instrument that proposes improvement in urban planning using this information. The instrument was generated combining two methodologies: local climate zones (LCZs) and climatopes. LCZs are used to characterize the different urban forms and functions. They were created based on construction and population density, the amount of vegetation, location characteristics and temperature, and spatial and temporal distribution. To summarize urban climate information, climatopes were made using seasonal temperature, humidity and precipitation distribution, wind analysis, and comfort. The results are presented in a map and a table. Tandil is a middle-sized city located in the south east of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. It has a transitional temperate climate and is surrounded by the Tandilia Hill System. The city has a population of 116,916 inhabitants and diversified economic activity. As a result, 16 LCZs were determined and climatic characteristics were described for each of them. The analysis of each one put into context the need to improve existing urban planning, which does not take into account climatic parameters. The mitigation strategies consisted in three types of intervention: gas emission control, improving urban vegetation, and construction restrictions.