Urban morphology and secondary mitigation strategies for heat-resilient post-earthquake low-rise settlements: Evidence from Elazığ, Türkiye

This study investigates the cooling performance of secondary mitigation strategies in low-rise urban settlements under semi-arid climatic conditions, focusing on Elazığ, Türkiye, where post-earthquake expansion has increasingly reproduced non-climate-responsive housing morphologies. To address this challenge, ENVI-met 5.0.1 microclimate simulations were used to evaluate the thermal implications of morphology, surface materials, vegetation, green roof application, and orientation on outdoor comfort. The research aims to quantify the interactive effects of urban form, albedo, vegetation, and orientation on Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT) and Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) using a simulation-based experimental design. Six representative low-rise morphologies (A1-A6) were tested under 33 scenarios encompassing baseline (no vegetation), existing vegetation, and + 25% vegetation conditions, integrating additional green roof and material reflectivity variables. The model was run at a 2 m spatial resolution to simulate peak summer conditions, and the results were statistically analyzed using factorial ANOVA and Tukey's HSD test. Findings reveal that moderately compact, ventilated morphologies (A3–A4/attached buildings) and mixed orientations (A6) achieved the most favorable microclimatic responses. Under the +25% vegetation scenarios, these configurations reduced MRT by 10–20 °C and PET by 8–10 °C compared with corresponding non-vegetated baseline conditions. Vegetation increased latent heat exchange and reduced radiant load, while medium-albedo façades (0.5) and green roofs enhanced radiative stability. Orientation toward N-S and diagonal (NW-SE) axes improved airflow and reduced localized heat accumulation. These findings demonstrate that heat-resilient low-rise reconstruction in semi-arid post-earthquake cities requires not only additional greening or material modification, but also the strategic alignment of urban morphology with secondary mitigation measures to maximize outdoor thermal comfort.