Established in 2014, the City of London urban climate walking tour is a research-led walk through various urban streets and public spaces. It explores the impact of building and urban form on the background climate and disseminates current thinking on various urban climate effects.
The walk provides a unique perspective on built environments by demonstrating the dynamic links between built form, climate, energy, and health and wellbeing across various scales. It offers an opportunity to discuss the quality of spaces in terms of physical form, materiality, and social implications, alongside their influence on green, blue and grey infrastructure and thermal comfort, all critical components of healthy, resilient cities.
Designed to teach the principles of urban climatology from an interdisciplinary perspective, the walk is suitable for anyone interested in the climates of cities. Cities that have adopted this methodology include the City of London, the City of Westminster, Birmingham, Ipswich, Reading, São Paulo, Borlänge, and Cardiff, with new walks planned for Bath, Bristol, Barcelona, Canterbury, Glasgow, and Paris.
The walk takes between 2 and 3 hours giving plenty of time for discussion; the walk can be done under all weather conditions… In fact, the harsher the conditions the more dramatic the walk …. The walk can be done under all weather conditions… In fact, the harsher the conditions the more dramatic the walk …. Sensible clothing and footwear are essential – this is not a walk in the park!
Meeting point ❶ The Martha Smith Memorial Water Fountain - 39 Finsbury Square, London, England, EC2A
Finishing Point ⓫ 120 Fenchurch Street Roof Garden (if open)
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Dr Julie Futcher (curator); is a chartered architect with significant experience in research and research-led teaching. Her research explores the direct, indirect, and dynamic influence of urban morphology in regulating the energy exchanges that characterise densely built urban landscapes. Importantly this includes the influence of built form on access to passive resources (i.e., day and sunlight and street scale ventilation), air quality and in turn, the physical outcomes on the neighbouring setting.
Julie is currently developing an interdisciplinary planning framework, "Critical Urban Infrastructure for Urban Climate Resilience," which integrates urban climate knowledge into built environment practice.
