ABSTRACT
The vast majority of buildings are constructed in urban environments. Urban temperatures are on average warmer, the air is more contaminated and its velocity is lower. Adjacent buildings also reduce the availability of daylight and solar radiation. This chapter introduces the key factors influencing urbanisation and its consequences, the nature of the integrated urban modelling challenge. It describes the techniques for modelling the urban climate, land use and the transport of people, together with challenges in developing a platform for the social simulation of inhabitants’ responses to policies and strategies destined to accelerate the penetration of measures to reduce urban resource throughputs. The chapter explores where efforts should be prioritised to develop a comprehensive urban modelling capability, on the one hand, and to improve the rigour with which energy use in buildings is modelled on the other. The International Building Performance Simulation Association is well placed to lead this interdisciplinary challenge.
