Destroying natural fabric, Exploiting and misusing natural resources, ignoring /marginalizing nature, has led to climate changes at the local /global levels . Phenomenon gained momentum in the post- industrial revolution . Global warming, depletion of ozone layer, change in rainfall pattern and seasons, have adversely impacted both developed and developing countries. Part of climate change is also to be shared by towns and cities and the way they are planned, designed and developed. Accordingly, there is need to study impact of planning and development of human settlements on climatic change. Architects and Planners can play critical role in mitigating adverse impact of climate change by planning and designing human settlements using nature and natural elements of sun, space and greenery. Studying and evaluating the planning and designing of desert cities of India, and Iran i.e. Jaisalmer and Yazd respectively and also the new Arabian city of Masdar, in the context of prevailing climatic conditions and the way natural elements have been used to make cities sustainable in the face of adverse climatic conditions provide valuable message for the professionals in the art and science of planning and designing cities.

1. Role of Climate in the Development of old and new cities
Case study Jaisalmer, Yazd and Masdar
Ar. Harish Gupta
Former Head of Department, Architecture, SUPVA, Rohtak.
Ar. Jit Kumar Gupta
Former Director, College of Architecture , IET Bhaddal, Punjab
Abstract
Exploiting and using natural resources, ignoring their implications on the nature, has led to
climate changes at the local and global levels . Phenomenon gained momentum in the post-
industrial revolution . Rapid climatic changes like global warming, depletion of ozone layer,
change in rainfall pattern and seasons, have adversely impacted both developed and
developing countries. Part of the onus of climate change is also to be shared by towns and
cities and the way they are planned, designed and developed. Accordingly, there is need to
study impact of planning and development of human settlements in respect to climatic change.
Architects and Planners can play critical role in mitigating adverse impact of climate change by
planning and designing human settlements using nature and natural elements of sun, space
and greenery. This paper is an attempt to study the planning and designing of desert cities of
India, and Iran i.e. Jaisalmer and Yazd respectively and also the new Arabian city of Masdar, in
the context of prevailing climatic conditions and the way natural elements have been used to
make cities sustainable in the face of adverse climatic conditions. The study focuses on Urban
fabric, Architecture, Materials and Technology .
Keywords: Climate, Architecture, Traditional cities, Jaisalmer, Yazd, Masdar
Introduction
Man is the most evolved living creature in the eco-system and is always a fore-runner of all
living creatures . Evolution of shelter for protection from nature and living creatures is attributed
to human beings. With passage of time, compelled by need for living in groups to protect
themselves from enemies and to socialize, led to the evolution of small settlements. Over a
period of time and with continued growth of human number and activities, led to the emergence
of large agglomerations, called as towns or cities . Environment played critical role in the
evolution of such settlements including Climate, topography, geography, availability of water,
food, locally available natural resource/material. This study of old and new settlements, having
harsh environment not so conducive for human comfort ( hot desert cities of Jaiselmer in India
and Yazd in Iran) is an attempt to study, analyse and understand indepth the influence of
climate on city planning and they way Planners and Architects of these settlements have
countered to make them sustainable..
1.0 Climatic Context
1.1 Jaisalmer in Rajasthan ( India) has hot desert region climate. There is least
rainfall with average annual rainfall less than 200mm. In summer the temperature can rises up
to 49 °C in day and 25°C at night. In winter the temperatures vary between 25°C and 5°C. The
diurnal range of temperatures is between 23.6 °C and 5 °C. Relative humidity in summer is less
than 10% in the day. The sky is mostly clear and intensive solar radiation throughout the year.
Highest ever recorded temperature was 50.0 °C and the lowest ever recorded temperature was

2. −5.9 °C. The mean monthly wind speed (meters per second) is 2.166. It is maximum up to
4.1m/sec during the month of July and lowest of 0.9 m/secs from month of Oct to Feb.
1.2 Yazd in Iran has a sub-tropical desert /low-latitude arid hot climate. Yazd is the
driest city in Iran, with an average annual rainfall of only 60 millimeters and also the hottest in
north of the Persian Gulf coast, with summer temperatures very frequently above 40 °C up to
45°C and low to 12°C in the night. The solar radiation is intensive throughout the year with no
humidity. In the winter, the days remain mild and sunny, but in the morning the thin air and low
cloudiness cause cold temperatures that can sometimes fall well below 0 °C. The mean
monthly wind speed (meters per second) is 4.675. It is maximum upto 6.0m/sec during the
months from March to July and lowest of 2.6m/secs from month of Oct to Dec.
1.3 Masdar ,in middle east ( Abu Dhabi), is also having a sub tropical arid climate. In
summer the temperature is around 47°C in day and low of 10°C in the night. In winters the day
temperature is around 24°C in day at 13°C in night. The wind speed is sometimes higher
12m/sec and minimum of 2.5m/sec. Generally around 10Pm till 11.00 Am in the morning the
breeze is from the interior of the desert with speed of 2.5m/sec. The wind then turns through
east to north-northeastern with speed of about 4.2m/sec. Sand storms generally comes from
south-east through east south east. Dust events are more than dust storms. The rainfall is
below 100mm annually.
The temperatures of all the cities are nearly the same but Yazd experiences lower
temperature during the winters than Jaisalmer and Masdar. The wind speed is also more
uniform at speed of 6.0m/sec in Yazd for 5 months from March to July as compared to
Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer has lowest wind speed amongst all these cities and Masdar has highest
wind speed may be more than 12.0m/sec but with varying direction. The annual rainfall is lowest
in Yazd and maximum in Jaisalmer but the variation is minimal. Solar radiation is intensive
throughout the year in all these cities.
2.0 Jaisalmer
2.1 Urban Morphology
Jaisalmer a medieval desert city located in the
Thar Desert in the state of Rajasthan India. The
Bhatti Rajput king Raja Rawal Jaisal, said to be
Yaduvanshi clan founded the city in 1156 A.D. The
site was chosen on triangular trikut hill as a new site
for fort to be safer place from protection of enemies
from earlier abode of king i.e. Luderwa which was
about 16-18 kms from the Jaisalmer. It is on the silk
route connecting India from Persia, Egypt, Africa and
the west. The main reason for the selection of site
was hill top suitable for fort and also the availability of
sub surface water source in form of Gadisar lake. The
fort was built on the hill top in the triangular geometry.
At present the city can be divided into two parts, the
fortified upper citadel elevated on a ridge, having
more than 400 houses, group of temples and a palace complex.
and lower city. With the passage of time the earlier developed
town became insufficient for the settlement of increasing population and the town expanded
Fig 1 Map of Upper Citadel

3. towards the north eastern slopes of the ridge of the existing fortified city and lower city came
into picture. This lower city was evolved after 1722 in the reign of Maharawal Akhai Singh. The
town was fully developed only after the 18th century. It was in 1750 that the entire city was
completed by Maharawal Mulraj II. The four city gates were built namely Gadisar Gate, Amar
Sagar Gate, Malka Gate, and Baron Gate. The plan of Jaisalmer town is an irregular polygon
with a double line of fortification. City has blend of planned as well as organic spaces guided by
the topography of the hill on which city was built and climate. The lower city is about 100 meters
lower than the upper fortified city. The Royal Palace with the Royal Square is the center of
Jaisalmer. There is only one entry point to the upper city fort. The city is compact in planning
with many tall buildings up to seven stories giving the city a character of dense and verticality. In
the spatial Planning there is distinct demarcation or zoning of royal areas and other
communities of the city based on the caste system. The streets are narrow with overhanging
balconies, jharokhas at upper levels and buildings are taller. The City is planned with network of
streets opening into squares.
Fig:2 Showing Urban Fabric of Jaisalmer. Source: Google
Major element of used in upper city is the Square around which entire planning of city
gravitates. Square is a space which connects streets on two or four sides, or it is made by
widening a street at a particular point. Each such space has opening of group of houses as
much as 12 in numbers for their daily needs and day to day activities and also other houses
besides providing space for socializing and mobility. Houses on the square used to have
verandahs with depth of one to two meter extending on to Square used as public places for
social interactions.
2.2 Architecture
The architecture of any city be analyzed by studying its buildings in respect of their
spatial planning, use of architectural elements etc. The major buildings that can be studied are
residences. As per the socio-economic status of the people there are three categories of
houses. Houses of poor & low status people, houses of middle class and the third one is most
interesting and splendid houses of the rich merchants and traders called Havellis. Jaisalmer is
known and famous of its Havellis. The common thing in all these categories is use of courtyard
planning and use of projected balcony on the upper floors. Low income people have single
storeyed single room and other utility spaces around the courtyard with less or no decoration,
ornamented balconies and other elements of design whereas middle income people have 2-3

4. storey's high houses with more no's of rooms with moderate use of ornamentation and other
decorated elements. Havellis are 4 to 5 storeyed houses having many rooms and verandahs
around the courtyards. There are underground rooms, sometimes at two levels one below the
other. The top storey of Havellis comprises terraces enclosed by wind pavilions and high
parapet walls. In order to have safety from harsh climatic conditions and enemies the ground
floor has no openings facing the street except the entrance door. All the major openings are
towards internal courtyard. The planning is totally introvert in all the buildings. This also protects
the buildings from entry of dust during the storms. The projected balconies on upper floors are
also called or known as Jharokhas with ornamented stone Jallis that too have its own functional
and aesthetic importance.This provide private space for the women folks to watch and
participate in the street activities like religious processions etc. and these jallis are also used for
managing solar radiations.
2.3 Building Materials and Construction Techniques
The main building materials used in the construction of buildings are Mud, yellow sand
stone, reed & grass which are locally available in abundance near the town. Minimal use of
timber has been made in the building due to its limited- availability at local level . The major
component of construction material is stone. The buildings are built with thick massive walls of
light yellow sandstone (0.45m thick of more) in rubble masonry plastered with mud. Limestone
is also used in form of panels as wall panels. In construction of roof, timer and stone slabs as
beams were used and layer of grass mat or reeds over it with layer of earth fill on the top were
used. The roof is generally 45cm in depth and has good insulating properties because of grass
matt and earth fill. Due to lack of rains there is no issue of water seepage. Timber in shutters
and stone frames was used in doors and windows. Modular construction system was followed
by the craftsmen by cutting yellow sandstone into standardized columns, beams, wall panels
floor slabs etc and by arranging in various permutations and combination remarkable design
had been produced in various Havellis. Yellow sandstone has property of reflecting most of the
sunlight and it heats up very slowly during day time and also radiates the heat slowly, during
the night when temperature drops. Jallis were carved out of stone with the pattern at an
inclination angle of 45 degree so that direct sunlight could be avoided and privacy be
maintained while looking downwards in the street by women folks and air can pass through it.
So the required ventilation can take place and other harsh factors of climate be avoided. Due to
less numbers of openings , recessed with arches and jallis, the interiors are dark. In order to
counter that, mirrors are used in interiors in the form of mosaic myriad small pieces of mirror, to
reflect light in the remotest corners of rooms. Mirrors create multiplier effect of light and interiors
get lit up with required amount of lighting.
3.0 Yazd
3.1 Urban Morphology
Yazd is one of the oldest towns in
the world. The city origins go back to pre-
Islamic ages. According to popular
legend, Alexander the great was the
founder of City. This account remains no
more than a legend, there is some
historical evidence that city existed at

5. the time of Sassanian period(226-640).The Fig:3 Showing compact & dense development
Yazd. Source: Google of
city flourished during the period of expansion of Islamic culture. Since inception, the economy
of the city was based on arts and crafts, textile industry, trade and partly agriculture.
The urban form of traditional city of Yazd is the highly centralized or inward looking.
Orientation and relation to the environment has been of high importance in the planning of city.
The urban fabric of the city is dense and compact. In the heart of the town there is a Friday
mosque, the main architectural landmark of the city, built in around 1365, and was in close
relation with the main bazaar. The dense and compact built form of the city is laid over over a
fabric/network of irregular narrow roads, streets with large no of dead ends, just to avoid any
unnecessary movements or thoroughfare. Some of the paths are semi covered and in the past
some of the well shaded urban paths formed linear system bordered by grouped shops, public
baths, water cisterns, tea shops, zurkhanen(a form of gymnasium), mosques and other
buildings. The old town is a walled city having four gates. The built form exists in clusters
making neighborhood urban sectors and finally entire city. The narrowness of the semi-covered
passages and high walls along two sides of allays provide shade in summer afternoons and
protect the complex against the dusty desert winds. The concentrate urban form reduces
penetration of the dusty wind and solar radiation on the built surfaces.
3.2 Architecture
All buildings have similar planning irrespective of the functions. The base of the plan is
the common idea of having semi-covered and open spaces with introvert planning around the
internal courtyards. There is complete balance between the open , covered and semi-
covered spaces. This common-sense approach to the location of a building on its site and the
organization of the building elements to mitigate the adverse effects of a hot summer has
valuable lessons for the green building design. The approach to the house is along a small lane
with 4-5 mts high walls on the both sides. All the houses are oriented towards Mecca. The entry
in the houses by a wooden gate and there are no windows and the rooms. Patio are generally
1.50 mts below the street level in order to reduce the heat absorbing surfaces. Separate
entrances for women folks and male folks have been provided. The internal courtyards have no
direct visual contact outside the house for reasons of privacy. The houses even have separate
courtyards for males and females. There is no provision of any direct visual connections with
neighboring houses.
The courtyards are rectangular in shape with NNW and long SSE facade. They have
water bodies and plantation to reduce the solar heat gain from the eastern and western sides to
create building specific micro- climate . Majority of houses are two storeyed high. The living
rooms and bedrooms are placed in the southern parts with main windows maximizing the
benefit of any sun for the cold winter. The houses and buildings have separate sections/ areas
for winters and summers. Winter areas of the houses are planned towards north side with single
storey rooms , low ceilings , small area and big windows for solar gains indoor spaces are
covered with stucco for controlling the heat loss. This is because of the reason that in winters
the temperature in Yazd region drops to even less than zero degrees. Many vaulted porches are
oriented towards east. The western facade of rooms had stained glass windows in deeply
recessed inside the thick walls. The rooms have decorated niches, stuccoes ceilings whereas
floor is of flagstone. The reason behind this is to have sufficient illumination in the interiors.

6. Stained glass acts as filter and used to soften the harsh and sunlight glare. Some of the
buildings too have mirrored walls to promote sufficient illumination. One of the most important
element of the buildings of the Yazd is wind towers known as Badgirs (wind towers or
windward) on the top of southern part of building. They are having eight shafts and catches wind
from all the directions. The longer side is oriented towards the prevailing wind direction i.e NW
and SE. Underground water reservoirs and water network is also one of the main feature of
Yazd town. The southern part of the house is used for summers, northern for winters, eastern
for spring and western during the autumn season.
Fig:4 Showing Urban Fabric of Yazd. Source: Google
3.3 Building Materials and Construction Techniques
Easily and locally available materials such as earth, crude brick and mud are normally
used in the construction and they also have excellent properties to prevent heat, thermal gain
and thermal losses. Walls are made up of mud brick work of 60 to 90 cm thick plastered with
yellow mud mixed with chopped straw. In the construction of roof slabs , flagstone were used
covered with mud. Mud as a building material has the property of elasticity and hygroscopy,
therefore it avoid cracks and also prevents accumulation of the moisture and delays the
process of heat absorption. Double envelope roofs mixture of arches and flat are used to reduce
the maximum heat gains. Doors and windows have wooden shutters with colorful stained glass
some of the buildings even have double glazing.
4.0 Masdar
4.1 Urban Morphology
Masdar City is one of the present day
planned city in Arabian Desert near Abu Dhabi it is
about 17 kilometers towards east-south-east beside
Abu Dhabi International Airport, likely to be
completed between 2020-2025. In 2006, Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyen, the crown prince
of Abu dhabi announced this project "Masdar
Initiative". The word Masdar means "the source" in
Arabic. The city is planned by the architectural firm

7. Fig:5 Master Plan of Masdar
Source: www.masdar.ae
Foster & Partners and developed, financed by Abu Dhabi government. The Construction began
on Masdar City in 2008.The city is designed for 45,000 to 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses.
The landuse of the city are residential (60%) commercial (17%), community facilities (12%),
Light industrial/R&D (11%).
City is planned with the concept of Mixed landuse development with basic activities of
living , working, entertaining and learning. The total area of the development is about 6 Sq.km.
All the landuses including Education, recreation, residential, commercial etc are integrated in a
urban fabric with everything in close proximity. The overall planning is compact with narrow
streets in grid pattern. The main focus of planning is to make Musdar as a center for clean
technology environmentally friendly companies. Masdar City is conceived on the lines of highly
planned, specialized, research and technology-intensive cities that incorporate a living
environment, like KAUST, Saudi Arabia or Tsukuba Science City, Japan. The city aims to create
green, sustainable city and good quality of life with lowest possible carbon footprint. City grid is
oriented to minimize solar penetration of the streetscape and to create a funnel effect to
capture the cool winds.
It is built on the concrete platform raised 23 foot high in order to achieve the maximum
exposure to cool winds. Beneath this platform there is a network of complex tunnels.. These
tunnels are used for movement of electricity driven vehicles and no gasoline of petroleum based
vehicles are permitted to operate in the narrow streets. An electronic personal rapid transit
(PRT) system is implemented.
The city is located in the deep desert region of Arabia and as per the climatic conditions
planners have a challenge to counter the high temperature while planning the city therefore city
is designed on planning principles of compact and high density developments. The city is having
population density of about 146PPH and the average heights of the buildings are maintained
between 4-6 storey’s. All possible efforts have been made in reducing the energy requirements.
All the landuses have been planned to have close proximity to public transport in the immediate
surroundings with maximum travel limited to 200 metres. There is Proper integration of Utility
and Transport corridors connected with pedestrian spaces at city level. Natural shading is
achieved with help of narrow streets and overhang balconies on the upper floors of the
buildings. The planning is having mixed use neighborhoods with daily needs within walkable
distances. All the community level facilities, urban spaces, shopping and commercial plazas are
also planned within walkable distances. City is planned to be zero car, zero carbon and zero
waste city. The entire energy requirement of the buildings is to be met through solar power plant
installed in the city with all buildings fitted with photo-voltaic cells to generate energy. Cool
winds from the sea are channelized through the city to make it cool and to reduce energy
requirement of buildings.
4.2 Architecture
Buildings are designed with the proper use of technology to promote energy efficient
buildings. The major buildings are designed within planning zone with high density and low rise
structures having central atrium a modern interpretation of courtyard. The Atrium in the buildings
is fully shaded to minimize the thermal heat gains from thermal mass of walls, structures and
also from direct solar heat gains. Atrium space is designed to create a free cooling concept
inside the building with the use of photovoltaic cell roof that allow diffused light in the atrium.
Orientation of buildings was designed to optimize the street shade and to provide

8. overshadowing to adjacent buildings to keep them cool as done in case of other traditional
desert cities of the world.
The Architecture is the blend of traditional Arabic architectural elements with new
innovative and high end modern technology. To reduce the heat gains from direct solar light and
radiations shading devices like, horizontal and vertical fins, brises soleil shade, concept of
evaporative cooling are extensively used..FSC timber frames with high performance glazing
system with openable windows are planned in a way to maximize the effectiveness of natural
ventilation. The outside windows are protected with the provision of shading devices with lattice
work which is the modern interpretation of traditional Arabic mashrabiya constructed with glass
reinforced concrete and painted with sand effect to give the desert context and also to avoid
maintenance. Higher benchmarks than standards of American Society of Heating, Refrigeration
and Air conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) are adopted to achieve maximum comfort level
within the buildings.
Residential buildings are designed with red sandstone and undulating glass reinforced
concrete screens as described above. These screens acts like a full height parapet wall of the
balconies thus creating a space to relax, viewing gallery to look out at the street level below with
privacy without compromising on the ventilation. Except the window area, rest of the external
facade have high insulation covered with aluminum sheets in same colour as that of Screens.
Wind towers as high as 45m is also one of the main architectural elements in most of the
buildings. It is located around the central atrium to capture the cool winds and direct them for
further circulation within the building. Sensors are provided at the top of the structure with
operable louvers that can automatically controll with the help of technology to open as per the
prevailing winds and to close in other direction so that wind captured by the tower be deflected
to the required areas.
4.3 Building Materials and Construction Techniques
The most innovative and high technology sustainable building materials are used in the
construction. Sustainable, low carbon content concrete prepared with cement having high
volume of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) an industrial bi-product is used in
place of ordinary Portland cement. Cement with fly ash blended mix is also used.
Supplementary cementing materials is used for construction they have reduced concrete
permeability when properly cured and also produced less heat of hydration and reduces the
chances of thermal cracking in huge structural members. This type of concrete has a property of
less water absorption and this helps in reducing the chances of saturation of waterborne salts
into concrete. Eco-friendly material, recycled materials, palm wood in external a sustainable
hardwood substitute from coconut palms that no longer bear fruit are extensively used.
Aluminum used is 90% recycled , red sand stone, glass reinforced concrete, water based paints
containing zero organic chemicals are used. Steel used is also 100% recycled.
5.0 Observations
From the above studies, it is revealed that Climate has played an important and critical
role in guiding the City Urban fabric, Architecture and use of material in all the times of human
existence, whether ancient or old cities of Jaisalmer, Yazd or Masdar, a present day sustainable
zero carbon city. Some of the major observations are:
5.1 All these cities have compact & dense urban fabric with narrow streets for protection
from solar radiations and wind storms.
5.2 Orientation of the streets is guided by the wind direction and geometry of the city is
governed by the topography of the place.
5.3 Mixed landuse development with all the landuse in walkable distances.

9. 5.4 Concept of Introvert planning revolving around the internal courtyard is an extremely
important feature of all the buildings and all the activities revolve around it. It is also used for
social gathering and functions.
5.5 The building planning was totally strongly influenced by the climatic conditions and
religious beliefs and sentiments of the region.
5.6 Planning is totally influenced by the climatic conditions as in Yazd people have separate
living areas based on the seasons because there is large variation of temperatures in
maximum temperature during summers and lowest in winters.
5.7 Wind towers are used in old desert city of Yazd to capture the cool winds because wind
speed and duration is much longer as compared to Jaisalmer . in Masdar also wind
towers with integration of high end techniques to capture and direct the winds to
desired spaces as per the requirement have been used.
5.8 Locally available building materials are used in the construction of buildings in the city of
Jaisalmer and Yazd whereas in case of Masdar innovative building materials like
sustainable cementing material, recycled and eco -friendly are used to create Zero carbon
sustainable city.
6.0 Conclusions
Respect to nature and local available materials is always been a major driving force or
guiding principles while designing settlements. In the old times there are certain limitations like
advance and fast means transportation, communication, technical skills, interaction between
various communes and society and there is hardly any focus on opportunities for research and
further application of it in construction and planning of towns, settlements and houses. In recent
times Research and development has empowered the human beings to adapt according to
climate with the use of high end technology without disturbing the ecological balance of the
nature. Masdar is an example of the paradigm shift. It is amalgamation of traditional principles of
city planning that are based in the climatic responsive architecture and high end technology. No
doubt its affordability is again a debatable aspect as most of the nation of world would not be
able to afford such high end technology for developing the sustainable or zero carbon cities or
settlements which is the utmost need of the society. Cities are known to consume 75% of global
energy and generate 70% of carbon footprints and majority of this is the outcome of the way
buildings are designed and the way people travel. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to come
up with sustainable building technologies that are affordable to all sections of society. The need
and requirements of the society and human being is also changing dramatically and is now
totally different from the old times when cities like Yazd and Jaisalmer were established. The
need and requirements also varies from region to region, country to country, religion to religion
etc. Worldwide there is huge socio- economic disparity but the influence of the climate is
common and same irrespective of disparities. It can be safely concluded that main concept of
the planning and architecture remains the same throughout the desert cities in various different
regions of the world except for the few changes in the planning, architecture and aesthetics
depending upon the region, cultural influences, economic conditions, religion and above all
level of technology. Accordingly, role of Architects and Planners becomes critical to plan cities
and design buildings using nature and natural elements as the basic input to make cities
green, more energy efficient, livable and sustainable
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