Toward climate-adaptive rural morphology: a grid-based micro-mesh framework for quantifying microclimate drivers

Rapid urbanization in China has transformed traditional village morphologies and weakened outdoor thermal comfort in rural settlements. This study introduces a Rural Micro-Mesh Decomposition (RMMD) framework to quantify village morphology and examine its relationship with thermal comfort. Field measurements were coupled with ENVI-met simulations, and predictive modeling was conducted for three representative villages situated in mountainous, plain, and riverside environments. The results show that morphology-Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) relationships are nonlinear and geomorphology-dependent. Compact feature sets generally matched or outperformed full feature sets, indicating that a limited number of key indicators can effectively explain village thermal responses. A ventilation-oriented street-and-alley organization improved heat dissipation, while an aspect ratio of 1.1-1.5 and a sky view factor (SVF) of 40%-60% supported a favorable balance between shading and airflow. Green-space ratios of 35%-45% further reduced UTCI-related heat stress. These findings inform a collaborative “shading-ventilation-humidity control” strategy and provide an interpretable framework to guide climate-responsive rural design.