Evaluation of simulation tools for assessment of urban form based on physical performance

The goal of this research is to find the most suitable computer simulation software for assessment of urban design performance from physical point of view. Although there are many physical simulation tools available today, there is no one which covers all the needs of urban design. After initial research of available software, we have chosen to assess three applications: ENVI-met, Project Vasari and IES VE-Pro. The assessment is composed from two parts: functionality assessment, which deals with the available features of the application and useability assessment, which deals with the user experience and friendliness. Since different aspects of assessed functionality and useability are not equally important, we have also included pondering mechanism in order to find the most suitable software for specific requirements. Complete assessment table is available online (http://tiny.cc/env_app_evaluation), so that the reader can modify ponder values so that it can find the application that suits his or her needs best. The results of the assessment have shown that the most suitable application for our needs is ENVI-met (1017 points), with Project Vasari close behind (1001 points) and IES VE-Pro in the third place (917 points). From urban design perspective, there is still a lot of improvement space for each of the applications reviewed.