Investigating the Regulatory Effects of Water Body Morphological Layouts on Settlement Microclimate

Water bodies play an important role in regulating settlement microclimates, and understanding the influence of water body morphology is essential for climate-adaptive settlement planning. This study quantified three key morphological parameters, scale, dispersion degree, and enclosure morphology, to investigate their effects on the microclimate of traditional Weizi settlements. Based on field measurements and ENVI-met simulations, fifteen water body layout scenarios were developed and evaluated using air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and PET. The results indicate that water body scale, enclosure morphology, and dispersion degree exert differentiated effects on thermal–humidity regulation, whereas their influence on wind speed is limited. The cooling and humidifying capacities followed the order of scale > enclosure morphology > dispersion degree, while the spatial influence range followed the order of enclosure morphology > scale > dispersion degree. PET analysis further demonstrated that larger water bodies, lower dispersion levels, and higher enclosure degrees contribute to improved outdoor thermal comfort. Under a constant water surface area, the optimal configuration consisted of a centralized water body layout with a water–land ratio of 0.49, a double-enclosure morphology, and a length-to-width ratio of 2:3. These findings provide quantitative guidance for climate-responsive planning and the design of water-adaptive settlements.