Change of wind velocity caused by the development of downtown areas: A case study in Jeonju Korea

The development of downtown areas causes urban heat island (UHI), which raises the temperature of cities. To remove the causes of UHI, extensive research is underway for securing green spaces and fresh air corridors in urban districts. The development of high-rise apartments in the downtown affected the fresh air corridor of the whole city, decreasing wind velocity by up to 50% compared to that before the development. In addition, with regard to apartment layout in complexes, the front-rear inter-building distance had a higher effect on the change of wind velocity in the complexes than the side-to-side inter-building distance. However, in a layout with the same repetitive form, a wide side-to-side space increased the intensity of turbulent flow in the complex, making the wind velocity almost three times higher at some parts.