A digital approach towards understanding of urban physical environment in the context of world heritage site - Malacca, Malaysia

Abstract

The old town Malacca is located along the west coast in the southern part of the Malaysia Peninsular. In this town, a lot of qualitative information related to the historical and cultural background, from the aspect of the conservation and preservation for the historical components such as buildings, streetscapes, tangible and intangible cultures have been accumulated. However, studies that have addressed to compile the quantitative information in the neighborhood scale have not yet been actively conducted. As a first step in tackling urban heat environmental mitigation in near future, accumulating scientific data and knowledge is required. So, this study is focusing on a digital approach towards understanding and assessing urban physical environment objectively from the two different viewpoints, which are neighborhood microclimate conditions and urban design components in the context of the world heritage site. As a significance of the study, the outcomes could be expected to become core tools for quantitative approaches to future urban heat mitigation so that the Malacca could be more environmental-friendly sightseeing destination town in future.