Creating a vibrant place for future communities through climate responsive design

Planning for future communities

With an extension of 180-ha, the new residential and social district within MWCJ had to be tailored to the needs of its future community. Our masterplan created ten self-sufficient neighbourhoods with their own local hub to ensure residents were within easy walking distance of convenience stores and public facilities. Featuring retail, cultural, health and wellbeing spaces, as well as food outlets, the design included a “town centre” to bring all communities and visitors together. To complement these, we added additional hospitality, commercial and retail spaces in the north-west and higher education facilities in the centre and south-west of the site.

As green and blue spaces play a key role in the health and wellbeing of people, incorporating areas to be in touch with nature and water was a key consideration. Together with open spaces and green corridors across the city, the central Nevata Park gives access to nine kilometres of high-quality and memorable landscapes. To enable residents and visitors to enjoy the outdoors on hotter days, our design featured four kilometres of shaded walkable streets for pedestrians. The combination of these strategies created an attractive, accessible and climate resilient city.

Developing a climate responsive city

Conceived to balance the natural and human needs, our design concept ‘Communities in Landscape’ was based on three core principles. The first one was to ensure residents and visitors were less than a five-minute walk from high-quality open spaces, providing places to connect with nature. The second was to give each neighbourhood access to a plaza with local stores and amenities, creating a “heart” to meet and relax in a more urban setting. The third one was to plan routes for walking and cycling, promoting active and sustainable travel between communities and with surrounding villages and settlements.

In considering the local climate’s frequent high temperatures, designing indoor and outdoor spaces for thermal comfort was crucial. To encourage the use of open spaces, as well as improve building performance, we used solar assessment tools to determine the optimal orientation for plots and streets. Through our microclimate and route network analysis, we identified areas with direct exposure to solar radiation and developed a shading strategy to improve outdoor comfort levels. Some examples of these included narrower street profiles, shading structures, and tree planting.

In addition, we also embedded a range of sustainability interventions such as reuse of treated water for landscaping, passive design for energy efficient buildings, and proposals to use low emission buses for last-mile connectivity. 

Creating a multifunctional landscape

The new district was bisected by a monsoonal storm water corridor which was unsuitable for development. Our proposal turned this area into the primary open space in the city, the blue green Nevata Park, from which pedestrianised green corridors connect to new communities and the wider area.

Water management within the park was designed to contain storm water, increasing flood resilience during the monsoon season while creating an accessible riverfront park for the community. In the dry season, small ponds, wetlands and canals create pockets of shaded and cool gathering areas, giving the space its own identity and character.