High-Rise Urban Form and Environmental Performance - An Overview on Integrated Approaches to Urban Design for a Sustainable High-Rise Urban Future

High-rise as a building typology is gaining popularity in Asian mega-cities, due to its advantages in increasing volumetric density with limited land resources. Numerous factors contribute to the formation of high-rise urban form, from economical and institutional, environmental to socio-political. Environmental concerns over the impact of rapid urbanization in developing economies demand new thought on the link between urban environment and urban form. Outdoor and indoor climate, pedestrian comfort, and building energy consumption are all related to and impacted by urban form and building morphology. There are many studies and practices on designing individual "green" high-rise buildings, but far fewer studies on designing high-rise building clusters from the perspective of environmental performance optimization.. This paper focuses on the environmental perspective, and its correlation with the evolution of the high-rise urban form. Previous studies on urban morphology in terms of environmental and energy performance are reviewed. Studies on "parameterizing" urban morphology to estimate its environmental performance are reviewed, and the possible urban design implications of the study are demonstrated in by the author, by way of a microclimate map of the iconic Shanghai Xiao Lujiazui CBD. The study formulates the best-practice design guidelines for creating walkable and comfortable outdoor space in a high-rise urban setting, including proper sizing of street blocks and building footprint, provision of shading, and facilitating urban ventilation.