Introduction Urban environments in hot-arid regions are increasingly exposed to thermal stress that undermines walkability, outdoor usability, and district-scale environmental comfort. While contemporary responses emphasize building-level technological solutions, historic urban fabrics demonstrate that climatic adaptation can be embedded within urban morphology. This study reconceptualizes urban heritage as climate intelligence, examining how traditional spatial configurations regulate thermal exposure and support resilient pedestrian environments.Methods Using AlUla Old Town in north-western Saudi Arabia as a district-scale case study, the research adopts a qualitative-analytical morphological approach. The study applies a structured codebook linking spatial features, such as compact blocks, hierarchical street networks, enclosure, permeability, nodes, and thresholds to inferred climatic mechanisms and resilience outcomes. Analysis is based on mapped morphology, visual documentation, and literature-grounded environmental interpretation.Results Findings indicate that climatic resilience emerges cumulatively through the relational organization of urban form. Compact block aggregation contributes to thermal buffering; hierarchical and redundant circulation networks enable protected pedestrian continuity; enclosed narrow lanes reduce solar exposure; and distributed nodes and layered thresholds create comfort gradients and adaptive transitions. These elements collectively support shaded route continuity, microclimatic stabilization, and sustained walkability at the district scale.Discussion The study demonstrates that environmental performance in hot-arid contexts can be structurally embedded within urban fabric rather than added through technological systems. By synthesizing observed form-climate relationships, the research develops a four-tier resilience framework linking morphological inputs, climatic mechanisms, resilience outcomes, and design and policy actions. This framework provides a transferable pathway for integrating heritage-derived spatial intelligence into contemporary urban design and governance, emphasizing that durable climate adaptation depends on how districts are spatially composed rather than solely on building-level interventions.