Lenzholzer, S.: Weather in the City: How Design Shapes the Urban Climate


198

Lenzholzer, S.: Weather in the City: How Design Shapes the Urban Climate. Rott erdam, nai010 publishers, 
2015. 224 p.

DOI: 10.15201/hungeobull.65.2.10          Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 65 2016 (2)

The author, Sanda Lenzholzer, had two clear and 
conscious goals with this book, to close the gap be-
tween the area of meteorology and urban design, and 
to do so while reaching for a wider audience but still 
maintaining scientifi c background. The volume was 
writt en by an architect who has a hands-on knowl-
edge on the practical considerations of the planning 
and construction of buildings. Her interesting aspect 
is that she does not consider the weather as a stress 
factor on built structures but as a stress factor on the 
people living in and around the buildings. The work 
was previously published in Dutch, and in its time, it 
gained a lot of media att ention. Later on, the author 
was persuaded into rewriting it for an international 
audience in English, resulting in this volume. Judging 
by the contents, it was a worthy decision. 

Most books on urban climate and weather have a 
special topic regarding extreme weather events, e.g. 
storm water management or heatwaves. One can also 
fi nd works about specifi c technologies such as the 
green roofs, or using renewable energy technologies 
in buildings. Some other studies are about mitiga-
tion of, or adaptation to, climate change or about the 

vulnerability of city systems and residents to climate 
change. However, a collection of weather eff ects on 
cities and urban neighbourhoods is lacking, espe-
cially the one understandable for people outside the 
scientifi c community. This book is a perfect choice for 
all, including policymakers, who wish to understand 
the need for urban meteorology and conscious urban 
planning. The volume is easy to read, but at the same 
time, it requires some natural scientifi c interest. 

The focus of the book goes from large-scale to mi-
cro-scale. It has to be noted that the features included 
in the volume pertain mostly to cities with temperate 
climate. The fi rst chapter is a general introduction 
to how we experience the physical and psychologi-
cal factors of urban microclimate. Of all the physical 
factors, special emphasis is put on the role of tem-
perature and wind. Though other factors are noted as 
well, the clearly important eff ects of solar radiation, 
relative humidity and ventilation are the key issues 
throughout the book. In the fi rst chapter, where the 
impact of heat stress and wind nuisance on residents 
and on their activities is considered, we get a glimpse 
of the mind of an architect. 

The second chapter breaks down into units that 
present each factor determining the urban climate 
from a more scientifi c point of view. The radiation 
eff ect is not only shown as a heat source but also as 
how the altitude angle of the sun aff ects incoming 
radiation and shadowing. Also from an architectur-
al perspective, the thermal properties (refl ection, 
heat storage and conductivity) of building materi-
als are introduced. Naturally, from radiation the 
author proceeds to temperature and to the urban 
heat island eff ect, but does not go into details about 
the latt er, since that is the main target in most stud-
ies. These issues are followed by the description of 
the wind eff ect. This is a more detailed part of the 
chapter and contains a lot of interesting fi ndings 
based on measurements and modelling. Perhaps 
the most interesting topic is, from at least a me-
teorologist’s point of view, the formation of typi-
cal wind patt erns in the urban environment. The 
author shows how the direction, height and width 
ratio of a slab-like building aff ects wind direction 
and speed, and how they create wind tunnels, 
downwashes and windbreaks around the build-
ings, which have a great eff ect on pedestrians and 
on their day-to-day behaviour. Especially in this 
part of the book, the fi gures are most helpful. Since 
the phrasing aims for a wide readership, the author 
omits some physical explanations, but the fi gures 
can be further discussed, e.g. in university classes 
with background knowledge on fl uid dynamics. 



199Book Review – Book Review – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 65 (2016) (2) 198–199.Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 65 (2016) (2) 198–199.

This chapter also discusses the perception of build-
ings from a thermal comfort view as well. 

The third chapter tackles the question of mapping 
and categorisation methods of physical properties 
of a city, from a microclimate forming perspective, 
e.g. heat emission or wind nuisance. By creating such 
maps, urban climate related problematic areas can 
be identifi ed in a city. One presented method is the 
determination of diff erent ‘climatope’ areas – urban 
areas with typical microclimatic characteristics (e.g. 
parks, garden cities, and commercial districts). The 
other method is the creation of urban maps based on 
in-situ and satellite measurements.

The shortest chapter of the book (Chapter 4) intro-
duces general methods that can be implemented in 
city planning in order to reduce the adverse eff ect of 
cities on weather. It shows general methods to reduce 
heat stress, creating ventilation between and within 
districts, and their possible implementation in plan-
ning practices. 

The fi ft h chapter is about mapping the microclimate 
at a building scale. Analyses of physical microclimate 
experience are introduced using shadow simulations, 
educated guesses about wind patt erns, wind tunnel 
tests, computational fl uid dynamic simulations and 
combined versions of observation and simulations. In 
addition, the method of mapping the psychological 
aspects of microclimate experience based on inter-
views and the observation of the behaviour of resi-
dents is presented. 

The sixth chapter embraces half of the content of 
the entire volume, it is also the most practical part, 
containing information on special urban designs. 
These range from diff erent techniques for shadow-
ing through building materials to the positioning 
of buildings. In order to avoid a simple enumera-
tion, these architectural designs are grouped along 
their capacity to infl uence sun and shade, refl ection, 
emissivity and heat conductivity, and evaporation, to 
slow or avoid wind, to improve ventilation, to protect 
against precipitation and to consider psychological 
aspects of microclimate experience. For each design 
the author provides general description and refers 
to issues of eff ectiveness, advantages and disadvan-
tages, construction problems, costs and maintenance 
fees. The general description explains the theoreti-
cal background and purpose of each design, and 
employs informative photographs or schemes. The 
description of the eff ectiveness, advantages and dis-
advantages of a given design is usually short but 
straightforward and critical. Cost estimates are only 
approximate ones, as the market value depends on 
the availability of a construction material and on gen-
eral economic conditions. At the end of the book, a 
table summarises the goals and target location of each 
architectural design.  

The topics, illustrations and descriptions make 
one wonder about their own urban environment. 

Aft er reading the book, I oft en fi nd myself looking 
at buildings from a climate responsive design point 
of view and I can even recognise the drawbacks of 
certain architectural designs, though I have no such 
background. One can also use the design examples to 
improve the comfort of their own home. 

The book itself has an up-to-date look, with a pa-
perback cover. The high quality fi gures are both in-
formative and simple, not overpowered by design. 
The fi gures are understandable for the general audi-
ence, but they can be employed even in higher edu-
cation. Photographs are mostly real life illustrations. 
Interestingly, the pages are colour coded based on 
which climatic factors they mostly concern, what can 
help the readers in fi nding what they are looking for. 
Since all the topics in the book are relevant to temper-
ate climates, every aspect is valid and can be used 
in the Central European region, from the theoretical 
background to the architectural designs. The price of 
the book also indicates that the aim is not to provide a 
comprehensive, physical equation based, urban plan-
ning content, but to reach a wider, even non-academic 
audience. At a mere price of 30€ the book is a bargain 
for all interested readers. 

Hajnalka Breuer1

1 Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest.
  E-mail: bhajni@nimbus.elte.hu