This book presents the findings of a three-year study on urban heat in Doha, Qatar, and discusses guidelines and strategies for planning agencies to consider in the context of moderating temperatures to provide pedestrians with greater access to outdoor spaces and greater choice in modes of transport. If modifying urban form can reduce extreme temperatures in one of the hottest places on the planet, then perhaps other communities can learn how to create livable cities during a time of rapid changes to the climate. In fact, despite the periods of extreme heat, strategic planning and management of urban areas can improve residents’ and visitors’ ability to live, work, and move throughout the city comfortably. Doha, Qatar, a city with one of the most extreme climates on earth, has undergone rapid development over the past 40 years. Although cities in the Middle East are expanding at three times the international average (UN Report, 2012), the rapid population and physical growth remain largely unexamined, particularly in terms of the unique conditions, qualities, and characteristics that give rise to these emerging centres. Speed, quality, and extent of urbanization impact neighbourhood-scale environmental conditions, and this book provides evidence that urban forms and materials can help to mediate temporal variation in microclimates and that landscape modifications can potentially reduce temperatures and increase accessibility to outdoor environments. By applying the lessons in this book, communities around the world can better adapt to the increasing frequency, duration and intensity of extreme heat.
The goals of this textbook are to help students acquire the technical skills of using software and managing a database, and develop research skills of collecting data, analyzing information and presenting results. We emphasize that the need to investigate the potential and practicality of GIS technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate its possible applications. GIS may not be necessary (or useful) for every planning application, and we anticipate these readings to provide the necessary foundation for discerning its appropriate use. Therefore, this textbook attempts to facilitate spatial thinking focusing more on open-ended planning questions, which require judgment and exploration, while developing the analytical capacity for understanding a variety of local and regional planning challenges. While this textbook provides the background for understanding the concepts in GIS as applicable to urban and regional planning, it is best when accompanied by a hands-on tutorial, which will enable readers to develop an in-depth understanding of the specific planning applications of GIS. Chapters in this text book are either composed by the editors using Creative Common materials, or linked to a book chapter scanned copy in the library reserve. In the end of each chapter, we also provided several discussion questions, together with contextual applications through some web links.
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