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Urban Form and Estimating Future Solar Potential in Evolving High-Density Urban Areas for the Mid-Latitude City of Mendoza, Argentina

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Urban and Transit Planning

Part of the book series: Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation ((ASTI))

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Abstract

The results of an exploratory study are presented aimed at generating data on medium- and long-term solar access availability in high-density residential areas of the city of Mendoza, Argentina. It is expected that they will provide useful information for revising and updating Mendoza’s Urban and Building Code. The main goal of the project is to explore the evolution possibilities of the morphological indicators of the built environment, including those resulting from progressive soil occupation, due to the relentless growth of the city’s population and subsequent increase in building density and solar access reduction per built unit. Two alternative normative proposals—conventional proposal (CP) and alternative proposal (AP)—are compared. In addition, temporal scenarios of the city’s evolution process are analyzed, starting from the reference situation of existing, high-density builtup areas, and simulating their possible morphological outcomes on theoretical medium (30 yr) and long (60 yr) terms, as a result of the massive implementation of either regulation in the long run. The results obtained demonstrate that the alternative proposal (AP) presents higher mean values of predicted solar potential expressed by the volumetric insolation factor total (VIFtot) for both time periods and services. Regarding environmental aspects, the different impacts of either alternative on the urban landscape quality seem to favor the AP. Its deserved detailed assessment is also presently being developed through a quanti-qualitative methodology.

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Abbreviations

AP:

Alternative proposal

AP 60:

Alternative proposal long term—older than 60 years

AP 30:

Alternative proposal medium term—around 30 years

BHmax:

Building height (max.)

BHI:

Building homogeneity index

Ce1:

Central 1

Ce2:

Central 2

Ce3:

Central 3

Co1:

Commercial 1

Co2:

Commercial 2

CP:

Conventional proposal

CP 60:

Conventional proposal long term—older than 60 years

CP 30:

Conventional proposal medium term—around 30 years

DD:

Degree day

GCM:

Graphic computational model 1

HI:

Homogeneity index

MLRSM:

Multiple linear regression statistical model

MMA:

Mendoza’s metropolitan area

Or:

Orientation

PS 00:

Present situation 00 years

SB:

Sides and rear building setbacks

SOF:

Soil occupation factor

SW:

North side street width

TOF:

Total occupation factor

TScomp:

Tree completeness

TSmag:

Tree magnitude

TStrans:

Tree transmissibility

UBC:

Urban and building code

UTS:

Urban tree structure

VIFhr:

Volumetric insolation factor (horizontal roofs)

VIFnw:

Volumetric insolation factor (north walls)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales. (INCIHUSA—CONICET), Merida, Mexico

    M. Arboit

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

    A. Diblasi

Authors
  1. M. Arboit
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  2. A. Diblasi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Arboit .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury, UK

    Hocine Bougdah

  2. Universita degli Studi di Enna “Kore” – Cittadella Universitaria, Enna, Italy

    Antonella Versaci

  3. Technische Universität Luleå, Luleå, Norrbottens Län, Sweden

    Adolf Sotoca

  4. Department of Architecture, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Ferdinando Trapani

  5. Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Marco Migliore

  6. School of Architecture, UF College of Design, Construction & Planning, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Nancy Clark

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Arboit, M., Diblasi, A. (2020). Urban Form and Estimating Future Solar Potential in Evolving High-Density Urban Areas for the Mid-Latitude City of Mendoza, Argentina. In: Bougdah, H., Versaci, A., Sotoca, A., Trapani, F., Migliore, M., Clark, N. (eds) Urban and Transit Planning. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17308-1_35

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