Environmental impact analysis of high-rise buildings for resilient urban development

Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, The University of Arizona

2 Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources and Desert Studies, Yazd University

3 Atmospheric Science and Meteorological Research Center (ASEMRC), Tehran, Iran

4 School of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

5 Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Iran

6 Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Clarkson University

Abstract

In recent years, the construction of high-rise buildings as an urban development strategy has been accepted in many megacities. High-rise buildings have positive, as well as negative impacts on urban environments. Therefore, the environmental impact assessment of high-rise buildings for establishing strategies for sustainable and resilient urban development is essential. In this study, the environmental impact of high-rise buildings with a resilient development mindset is assessed. Resilience mindset provides an approach for including the uncertainties and interdependence of systems and processes for planning new sustainable developments and assessment methods.  The corresponding environmental impact assessment is done by monitoring the structural changes and their impacts on the function of ecosystem and environmental services.  Here, the positive and negative impacts of high-rise buildings are evaluated. Protection of impervious surfaces as a positive and changing the natural pattern of urban wind flow as a negative impact is considered. The transparency of the results and the reduction of uncertainty are the advantages of using the resilience mindset in environmental impact assessment. The results of this study suggest that the resilient development mindset can improve the environmental assessment through the adoption of the appropriate indicators at multiple scales and differentiation between the primary and secondary effects.

Keywords

Scientia Iranica

Volume 27, Issue 4
Transactions on Civil Engineering (A)
July and August 2020
Pages 1843-1857

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