Modelling the effect of urban design on thermal comfort and air quality: the SMARTUrban Project

More than half of the world population lives now in urban areas and therefore the quality of the urban environment has become a key issue for human health. In this context, it is important to evaluate and document any action that contributes to improvements in thermal comfort and air quality. The aim of this paper is to present a system for the design of urban spaces developed in the framework of the SMARTUrban project. Such a system aims at giving administrators and design professionals a strategic tool for the sustainable management and planning of urban areas. SMARTUrban is a prototype of an urban space design software that estimates the effect of design modification or of new design on thermal comfort, carbon sequestration and air pollutants removal.