No abstract

Understanding of microclimate is important for built environment professionals to create urban environments that could encourage users to venture out and enjoy the outdoors. "Urban 'climate-sensitive' design is defined as a process that considers the fundamental elements of microclimates (e.g., sun, wind, temperature) for design purposes" (Tapias and Schmitt, 2014). Climate sensitive urban design is very crucial especially in modern context where built environment professionals face a challenge of decreasing the negative effects of climate change on our built and natural environment through design and planning decisions. The study is carried out as a comparison between Brisbane and Nagpur with awareness that urban planning evolves as a response to social, cultural and climate conditions and deeply embedded in socio-cultural fabric but at the same time comparative research can impart invaluable insights into local practices, policy making and implementation from other places and valuable lessons can be learnt. The study has been carried out for pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras in Brisbane (Australia) and Nagpur (India). Urban design is studied for each era and lessons are extracted to narrow down a list of climate sensitive urban design elements. It is also crucial to review whether current planning regulations are adequate to equip built environment professionals with policies to design a climate sensitive urban environment. This is the intent behind the document analysis of policy documents developed by the local development authorities from Brisbane and Nagpur. Through the focus group discussions and personal interviews of built environment professionals in Brisbane and Nagpur, the research presents the possible barriers faced by these professionals in implementing climate sensitive urban design innovations in their current projects. The research highlights that path-dependence is a deep driver of barriers and limits to adaptation. The research also presents climate sensitive design innovations from Brisbane and Nagpur where the built environment professionals have taken a step beyond the barriers to work out innovative solutions.