Addressing the Urban Heat Islands Effect: A Cross-Country Assessment of the Role of Green Infrastructure

Sustainability

Stevan Savić¹  VincentN. Ojeh²  Marija Maruna³  GustavoJ. Nagy⁴  Nestor Gutiérrez⁵  Abul Quasem Al-Amin⁶  ClaudiaE. Natenzon⁷  Chunlan Li⁸  Ricardo Castro-Díaz⁹  Franziska Wolf^1,10  Juliane Bönecke^1,10  Walter Leal Filho^1,10 

[1] Climatology and Hydrology Research Centre, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia;Department of Geography, Faculty of Social & Management Sciences, Taraba State University, Jalingo PMB 1176, Nigeria;Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia;Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad de la República (FC-UdelaR), Montevideo 4225, Uruguay;Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg, 79100 Freiburg, Germany;Institute of Energy Policy and Research (IEPRe), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Kajang 43000, Malaysia;Institute of Geography, University of Buenos Aires/FLACSO Argentina, Buenos Aires C1053, Argentina;Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), School of Geographical Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China;Regional Center of Geomatics, Autonomous University of Entre Ríos, Oro Verde 3100, Argentina;Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainability and Climate Change Management”, Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, D-21033 Hamburg, Germany;

关键词: climate change;    cities;    urban heat islands;    resilience;    green areas;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su13020753

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The Urban Heat Islands (UHI) effect is a microclimatic phenomenon that especially affects urban areas. It is associated with significant temperature increases in the local microclimate, and may amplify heat waves. Due to their intensity, UHI causes not only thermal discomfort, but also reductions in the levels of life quality. This paper reviews the important role of green infrastructure as a means through which the intensity of UHI may be reduced, along with their negative impact on human comfort and wellbeing. Apart from a comprehensive review of the available literature, the paper reports on an analysis of case studies in a set of 14 cities in 13 countries representing various geographical regions and climate zones. The results obtained suggest that whereas UHI is a common phenomenon, green infrastructure in urban areas may under some conditions ameliorate their impacts. In addition, the study revealed that the scope and impacts of UHI are not uniform: depending on peculiarities of urban morphologies, they pose different challenges linked to the microclimate peculiar to each city. The implications of this paper are threefold. Firstly, it reiterates the complex interrelations of UHIs, heat waves and climate change. Secondly, it outlines the fact that keeping and increasing urban green resources leads to additional various benefits that may directly or indirectly reduce the impacts of UHI. Finally, the paper reiterates the need for city planners to pay more attention to possible UHI effects when initiating new building projects or when adjusting current ones.

【 授权许可】

Unknown