Assessment of the impact of urban planning policies on energy performance and the urban heat island

In France, more than 80% of the population lives in urban areas and this figure has not stopped growing in recent years. This inevitably results in a major urban expansion which is accompanied on the one hand by a significant increase in urban temperatures better known as the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI) and on the other hand, by significant pollution due to the concentration of anthropogenic activities. Faced with climate change, urban areas are becoming more vulnerable, they are facing global warming and marine submersion. Weather events and intense heat waves are more and more frequent and cause safety and comfort problems for the population. In response to these challenges, urban planning policies that allow the management and governance of territories are today considered as a major lever for adapting to climatic phenomena and changing lifestyles. The objective of this work is to develop a policy support tool allowing the evaluation of French urban planning policies on urban form and their impacts on energy and climatic phenomena. This tool will highlight the various institutional action levers likely to reduce the effects of the urban heat island and improve energy efficiency in the context of climate change. This work, currently being developed as part of a PHD thesis, is functional at the scale of the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole and consists of a multi-scale simulation of territorial development following a regulatory approach. Following the orientations and rules contained in various French urban planning documents (SCOT, PLU), the approach consists of a coupling of models (urban growth model, urban planning model and dynamic thermal model) in order to produce 2D and 3D environments allowing a simulation of urban form. This coupling will allow to simulate the interaction between urban planning documents and their impacts on urban energy and climate phenomena in order to refine the decision process.