Abstract

The recent progress in scientific computing has made it possible to undertake complex environmental performance simulations of urban buildings and spaces under climate change scenarios. However, outputs from these simulations present great difficulties for the general public to engage with the process of achieving climate change conscious design. We report a pilot study of a visual communication framework for enabling wider participation in climate change conscious urban neighbourhood design (C3UND). A case study of a new residential neighbourhood development proposed for a site in New Cairo, Egypt, is carried out according to the C3UND framework. The case study results show the potential barriers for effective public engagement with C3UND as an emerging social-technical practice towards sustainable urban dwelling. The idea of constructing a Web-based 3D virtual urban neighbourhood as the core of a visual language for social engagement with C3UND is explored along with the case study neighbourhood simulation, identifying some key elements for such a visual language to be further developed and tested.