An Urban Influence Radius Framework for Environmental-Spatial Evaluation in Medium-Sized Cities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/wjes.Vol14.Iss2.783Keywords:
Urban Influence Radius, Floor Area Ratio, Grasshopper, Ladybug Tools, urban microclimateAbstract
Medium-sized cities are densifying in ways that concentrate high-occupancy projects inside compact cores. Conventional plot-based controls such as floor area ratio, setbacks, and coverage regulate quantity rather than spatial distribution, and therefore cannot reveal off-site environmental and pedestrian effects. This paper formalizes an Urban Influence Radius and applies it to a dense hospital site in central Kut, Iraq. The Urban Influence Radius is the minimum radius R inside which a project’s massing measurably alters shading, airflow, thermal comfort, and pedestrian performance. We adopt a practical baseline R = max(2H, 1.5W, 60 m), rounded to the nearest 5 m, where H is the main building height and W is the adjacent street width. Using Rhino, Grasshopper, and Ladybug Tools, we compute key performance indicators on-site and within the Urban Influence Radius. Holding FAR near 5.0, the baseline high-coverage massing performs poorly within the radius, while a lower-coverage alternative improves summer UTCI, winter solar access, wind renewal, and walkability without reducing program area. A sensitivity analysis over R = 40-80 m and coverage = 50-80 percent confirms robustness. The results support adding Urban Influence Radius screening and threshold-driven iteration to approvals and motivate an Enhanced Environmental FAR that reports FAR together with KPI compliance. The workflow is replicable with standard tools and SI units.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Haider Majid Hasan, Hussam Sachit Oweid, Ayam Sh. Altameemi, Noor Dheyaa Joodi
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