Compact cities in a sustainable manner

Densification is generally assumed to exert negative impacts on urban daylight and solar potential, however, this paper demonstrates the possibilities to increase usable floor area and plot ratio without undermining the opportunities of daylight and solar applications. The paper investigates the diverse influences of built density on daylight access and the potential of two solar systems. The findings suggest that plot ratio is influential to quantities such as daylight factor, sky view factor and the potential of solar thermal and photovoltaic applications on roof, whilst the potential of solar thermal and photovoltaic applications on building facades are more dependent on site coverage and the extent of horizontal obstruction.