This study presents a morphological study to assist in the prediction of energy demand of buildings in the context of a Brazilian city. Different parameters have been applied in the analysis of urban geometry in order to realize a cartography of morphologically homogeneous areas, each one presenting a different influence on the energy demand of buildings. As a first methodological step, the morphological parameters were automated and calculated in a Geographical Information System software, ArcMAP/ArcGIS®. The morphological results obtained for a case study in Maceió, Brazil, were analysed using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), from which it was possible to identify the significance of the parameters to the urban context. Through a Clustering Analysis, different typological configurations were grouped, classified and, then, submitted to computational simulations for energy demand analysis. Six morphological indicators were retained and five representative typological classes of the urban fabric for the Brazilian city were highlighted. A major impact of three main morphological parameters was verified: total built density, verticality, compactness and the mean aspect. INTRODUCTION The dynamic process of urbanization affects the natural and built systems in several scales, source of important changes in local climate and, consequently, in the energy demand of buildings. In Brazil, the rapid process of urbanization did not follow an effective planning. The lack of public policies that works towards the regulation and control of land use and urban construction, has led cities to reproduce low-quality environmental urban models. However, in recent times, local efforts have been employed towards the elaboration of a set of environmental criteria to regulate energy efficiency applied to buildings [1]. Nevertheless, these energy policies have been mostly devoted to the individual building scale, since the potential of action in this scale seems more feasible. The urban scale approach toward the integration of energy in the local urban planning and design has not yet been largely studied nor effectively applied. The difficulty may be found in several aspects. Among others: (a) the lack of more detailed quantitative studies about the impact of urban morphology on local climate, as well as the effects of microclimate on the energy demand of urban buildings; (b) the absence of more accurate mathematical models that address the complex physical phenomena in multiple scales in tropical climate; and (c) the lack of prospective studies on the evolution of local urban form. One possible approach for this problematic could be the development of simplified tools based on relatively complex energy studies towards the regulation of urban land. Tools based on urban indicators/parameters that could