Numerical Investigation of the Impact of Morphological Parameters on Urban Ventilation in Compact Cities

The present work investigates the ventilation performance of a compact area in Rome, Italy, performing 3D steady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations for twelve wind directions. The urban ventilation is expressed in terms of the spatially averaged mean wind speed ratios at pedestrian level, γped, and at 10 m height, γ10. The urban morphology is quantified using morphological parameters (MPs). The relations between each MP and γped and γ10 are expressed through simple models obtained using linear regression analysis. The relations present strong correlations with R2 up to 0.89. The provided linear models can be valuable tools for highlighting areas potentially vulnerable to poor air conditions without running simulations.