Sustainable Urban-Design Pattern by Explaining an Environment-Based Compatibility Model Founded on Density in the Residential Fabrics of Tehran city

Daneshpajouh, Hamid; Khorsandi, Ali; Moradi, Zahra; Fazeli Fakhr, Kia

doi:10.22034/ijumes.2026.741518

Sustainable Urban-Design Pattern by Explaining an Environment-Based Compatibility Model Founded on Density in the Residential Fabrics of Tehran city

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Hamid Daneshpajouh ¹

Ali Khorsandi ²

Zahra Moradi ³

Kia Fazeli Fakhr ⁴

¹ Department of City and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

² Department of Architecture, SCR, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

³ Department of Architecture, Ha.C., Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

⁴ Department of Computer Engineering, Bo.C., Islamic Azad University, Bonab, Iran

10.22034/ijumes.2026.741518

Abstract

Buildings account for roughly 40% of urban energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions, and the physical form of the city through density, coverage and configuration strongly conditions the urban microclimate and the resulting heating and cooling demand of residential fabrics. Yet a systematic, locally grounded model linking environmental-compatibility indicators to a measurable, density-based sustainable-design pattern is still lacking, particularly for the horizontally sprawling residential areas of Tehran. This study aims to establish such a model for the residential fabrics of District 4 of Tehran. A two-stage design was used: first, environmental-compatibility indicators of residential morphology were screened and weighted through a Fuzzy-Delphi expert panel, in which building density and coverage level obtained the highest consensus and were adopted as the fixed effective variables; second, four dominant morphotypes were modelled and simulated in ENVI-met using 2024 climate data for the hottest and coldest days, in both the existing and a proposed state, comparing air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and mean radiant temperature. The results, combined into a scale-free composite index, show that under controlled densification the high-rise type achieves the most positive microclimatic change (rank 1), followed by the compact and slab types, while the modern type remains most stable. Overall, applying the optimal model improved the microclimate in about 75% of cases and preserved stability in the remainder, without reducing energy efficiency in any type. A controlled compact form, density raised within an optimal range and matched to each morphotype therefore offers a decision-support pattern for sustainable, energy-efficient urban design.

Graphical Abstract

Sustainable Urban-Design Pattern by Explaining an Environment-Based Compatibility Model Founded on Density in the Residential Fabrics of Tehran city

Highlights

· A density-based environmental-compatibility model is proposed for Tehran’s residential fabrics.

· Fuzzy-Delphi screening selects building density and coverage as the fixed effective variables.

· Four dominant morphotypes are simulated in ENVI-met for the hottest and coldest days of 2024.

· Controlled densification improves the microclimate in about 75% of cases with no efficiency loss.

· The high-rise type ranks first; the effect of density is type-dependent, not uniform.

Keywords

Compact city

density

energy efficiency

urban microclimate

urban morphology

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