Creating breathing cities by adopting urban ventilation assessment and wind corridor plan – The implementation in Chinese cities

Abstract In recent years, urban ventilation assessment and urban ventilation corridor plan have been conducted and adopted in the urban planning of Chinese cities in response to the national call from the Central Government of China as well as the public concern on the quality of living environment. Therefore, a national technical guide is needed to provide a state-of-the-art standard methodology and scientific technology on urban ventilation assessment, and to serve as an aid for decision-making in the initial stage of town planning and urban design. This paper first reviews the urban ventilation corridor plan related activities in Chinese cities since 2000 and points out the needs and problems. Secondly, it introduces the newly developed national technical guide ‘Specifications for climatic feasibility demonstration – Urban Ventilation Corridor’. Thirdly, a case study of Chengdu Urban Ventilation Corridor Plan is presented to demonstrate the implementation of such considerations in local planning exercises. Lastly, it discusses the future trend of urban ventilation assessment and urban ventilation corridor plan in China.