Deriving an Urban Climate Map in coastal areas with complex terrain in the Basque Country (Spain)

•A method to develop Urban Climate Maps for planning purpose has been developed.•All the necessary information to derive climatopes is grouped in 5 GIS layers.•Urban climate expert knowledge is essential to evaluate dynamic potential.•Local/regional ventilation systems are important to reduce heat storage in Bilbao.•This is the first tool in Spain that relates urban climate with urban planning.

This works develops a methodology to analyze urban climate from an urban planning perspective and derive an Urban Climate Map (UC-Map). Calculations with spatial information layers, climate measurements and urban climate knowledge are used to evaluate thermal load and dynamic potential of the urban area. All the necessary information is grouped in five information layers (building volume, building surface fraction, green areas, ventilation paths and slopes). The method is applied to Bilbao (Spain), a medium-sized urban area located in complex terrain, and influenced by sea breeze and cold air drainage flow.The resulting UC-Map agrees with experimental data and shows the effects on thermal comfort of the interaction of different land use with regional climate. Local/regional ventilation systems characterized by diurnal and seasonal intensity variations turn out to be a very important aspect to reduce heat storage in Bilbao. Specific recommendations are included to improve and protect climate. This UC-Map is an important milestone in Spain since it is the first information tool that relates urban climate with urban planning. The methodology presented is simple to apply and can be adapted to other urban areas with similar characteristics to Bilbao.