TOWARDS A PRESCRIPTION FOR THE GREATER USE OF CLIMATIC PRINCIPLES IN SETTLEMENT PLANNING

Despite some notable exceptions, relatively little of the large body of knowledge concerning urban climate has permeated through to working planners. This is so because of the inherent complexity of the subject, its interdisciplinary nature and lack of meaningful dialog between planners and the climatological research community. The paper reviews the possibility that part of the problem is attributable to the nature of research in urban climatology and the difficulty of translating its results into robust tools for application. A critical assessment of the preparedness of urban climatology to be an applied science reveals progress and promise but also weaknesses. The latter include a lack of quantitative techniques and relationships, lack of standardization, generality and transferability, and the absence of clear guidelines for those wishing to learn and use climatological principles in settlement planning.