Geography and Human Relationships

Geography and Human Relationships

Climatic Implications of Underutilized Urban Structures in Historic City Cores: A Microclimatic Analysis of Urmia’s Traditional Fabric

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Master of Architecture and Energy, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran
10.22034/gahr.2025.538573.2554
Abstract
Background and Objective: With the increase in migration from the historical context of cities, unused architectures are expanding in the central cores. This leads to changes in the central core, including an increase in the ambient temperature around these buildings. This research aims to investigate the climatic effects of those buildings in the central core of cities (the historical context of Urmia city).

Research Method: This research is based on an applied objective and has a descriptive-analytical nature. The Gioni method was used to analyze buildings in terms of shading and materials, etc., and the effective temperature, psychrometric chart, and average temperature of the city were examined with the Climate Consultant software. Using LST maps, heat maps were extracted between 2010-2015-2018, and finally, the historical context of the city was examined in terms of the number of historical and unused buildings.

Findings: According to the heat maps, in 2010, the heating of the historical context was higher due to the presence of historical and unused buildings, but in 2015, this figure decreased by 4% and is in good condition by 2018. Considering the decrease in the number of these buildings in the historical context, the psychometric diagram shows that Urmia city is in the thermal comfort range for 1383 hours, and the historical context has allocated a large amount of this range due to the improvement in the conditions of the buildings.

Conclusion: Finally, we conclude that the climatic quality in the historical context of Urmia city, especially in relation to the phenomenon of local heating, is directly affected by the physical and functional changes that have occurred in this area, and by decreasing the number of these buildings, it can create a better thermal comfort range for residents.
Keywords

Subjects



Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 21 September 2025

  • Receive Date 01 August 2025
  • Accept Date 24 August 2025