Effects of urban parks on the local urban thermal environment

Chang, Chi-Ru; Li, Ming-Huang

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2014.08.001

Cited by 138 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The results from this study verified that urban parks have cooling island effects (except for during the winter) and that PCI intensity varies considerably by month, similar to the cooling effect of urban green spaces [10,30,43]. The PCI effect was strong during the warm months.…”

Section: The Relationships Between the Pci And Impact Factorssupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Third, the LST showed little change and even decreased, especially in the buffer zones of small parks. For all of the parks throughout the study duration, the rate of LST increase was highest during the first Previous studies have shown that park size significantly influences the LPCI [10,16]. As a result, the urban parks in this study were classified into six size classes (Figure 7).…”

Section: The Cooling Effect Extentmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…A very interesting phenomenon was that the relationships between the percent tree area and LST were not significant in all months, while the percent grass area showed a positive relationship with LST throughout study duration. Previous studies have shown that park size significantly influences the LPCI [10,16]. As a result, the urban parks in this study were classified into six size classes (Figure 7).…”

Section: Relationships Between Urban Parks Interior Lst and Charactermentioning

confidence: 98%

“…To summarize, the cooling effect of urban parks was pronounced in larger parks during the hotter months. Previous studies have shown that park size significantly influences the LPCI [10,16]. As a result, the urban parks in this study were classified into six size classes ( Figure 7).…”

Section: Relationships Between Urban Parks Interior Lst and Charactermentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Urban parks which can provide important ecosystem services to ameliorate the impacts of urbanization, such as noise reduction, recreational facilities, microclimate regulation, and air pollution reduction, have been shown to significantly mitigate the UHI effect during the hot season [10][11][12][13][14][15]. The …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The Cooling Effect of Urban Parks and Its Monthly Variations in a Snow Climate City

Yang

et al. 2017

Remote Sensing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Urban parks have been shown to form park cool islands (PCIs), which can effectively alleviate the negative influences of urban heat islands (UHI). However, few studies have examined the detailed characteristics of PCIs, the effect of urban park features on their individual temperatures, and monthly variation in PCIs. Land surface temperature (LST) retrieved from Landsat 8 TIR images between May and October were used to represent the thermal environment. Urban park characteristics were extracted from high-resolution GF-2 images. Using these datasets, the relationships between urban park characteristics and PCIs were explored in this study using Changchun, which has a snow climate, as a case study. The results showed the following: (1) the urban parks exhibited a cooling island effect, and the PCIs showed significant monthly variations with the highest intensities in the hot months; (2) the effects of composition (e.g., park size and the percentage of water area) on LSTs and PCIs showed significant monthly variability and were stronger than the configuration effects. Furthermore, an unexpected, negative correlation between PCIs and the area of park grass was also found; and (3) larger parks tended to have stronger PCI intensities and extents of influence. For parks larger than 30 ha, the cooling effects extended approximately 480 m from the park edge between June and August. For all of parks during the study duration, the rate of temperature increase was highest within 60 m from the park edge. The PCI we employ specifically in this study is characterized by LST.

show abstract

Section: The Relationships Between the Pci And Impact Factorssupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: The Cooling Effect Extentmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Relationships Between Urban Parks Interior Lst and Charactermentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Relationships Between Urban Parks Interior Lst and Charactermentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The Cooling Effect of Urban Parks and Its Monthly Variations in a Snow Climate City

Yang

et al. 2017

Remote Sensing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Evapotranspiration of urban landscapes in Los Angeles, California at the municipal scale

Litvak

Manago

Hogue

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evapotranspiration (ET), an essential process in biosphere‐atmosphere interactions, is highly uncertain in cities that maintain cultivated and irrigated landscapes. We estimated ET of irrigated landscapes in Los Angeles by combining empirical models of turfgrass ET and tree transpiration derived from in situ measurements with previously developed remotely sensed estimates of vegetation cover and ground‐based vegetation surveys. We modeled irrigated landscapes as a two‐component system comprised of trees and turfgrass to assess annual and spatial patterns of ET. Annual ET from vegetated landscapes (ETveg) was 1110 ± 53 mm/yr and ET from the whole city (vegetated and nonvegetated areas, ETland) was three times smaller, reflecting the fractional vegetation cover. With the exception of May and June, monthly ETland was significantly higher than predicted by the North American Land Data Assimilation System. ETveg was close to potential ET, indicating abundant irrigation inputs. Monthly averaged ETveg varied from 1.5 ± 0.1 mm/d (December) to 4.3 ± 0.2 mm/d (June). Turfgrass was responsible for ∼70% of ETveg. For trees, angiosperm species (71% of all trees) contributed over 90% to total tree transpiration, while coniferous and palm species made very small contributions. ETland was linearly correlated with median household income across the city, confirming the importance of social factors in determining spatial distribution of urban vegetation. These estimates have important implications for constraining the municipal water budget of Los Angeles and improving regional‐scale hydrologic models, as well as for developing water‐saving practices. The methodology used in this study is also transferable to other semiarid regions for quantification of urban landscape ET.

show abstract

Integrated Assessment of Urban Overheating Impacts on Human Life

Nazarian

Krayenhoff

Bechtel

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Urban overheating, driven by global climate change and urban development, is a major contemporary challenge that substantially impacts urban livability and sustainability. Overheating represents a multifaceted threat to the well-being, performance, and health of individuals as well as the energy efficiency and economy of cities, and it is influenced by complex interactions between building, city, and global scale climates. In recent decades, extensive discipline-specific research has characterized urban heat and assessed its implications on human life, including ongoing efforts to bridge neighboring disciplines. The research horizon now encompasses complex problems involving a wide range of disciplines, and therefore comprehensive and integrated assessments are needed that address such interdisciplinarity. Here, our objective is to go beyond a review of existing literature and instead provide a broad overview and integrated assessments of urban overheating, defining holistic pathways for addressing the impacts on human life. We (a) detail the characterization of heat hazards and exposure across different scales and in various disciplines, (b) identify individual sensitivities to urban overheating that increase vulnerability and cause adverse impacts in different populations, (c) elaborate on adaptive capacities that individuals and cities can adopt, (d) document the impacts of urban overheating on health and energy, and (e) discuss frontiers of theoretical and applied urban climatology, built environment design, and governance toward reduction of heat exposure and vulnerability at various scales. The most critical challenges in future research and application are identified, targeting both the gaps and the need for greater integration in overheating assessments.Plain Language Summary Many major cities are faced with the compounding effects of climate change and rapid urbanization. One of the main challenges that result is urban overheating, which leads to negative impacts on human life (deteriorating health, productivity, and well-being) and urban energy systems. Heat exposure in cities, however, is only the trigger and there are other factors that influence impacts. Urban heat vulnerability exists when sensitive people and infrastructure are exposed to extreme heat, and negative impacts ensue if there is a lack of capacity to respond and adapt. Accordingly, to combat overheating challenges, it is critical that multidisciplinary solutions are integrated to mitigate exposure, reduce sensitivity, and increase adaptive capacities. This paper provides an integrated assessment of urban overheating literature, defining pathways for addressing the impacts on human life. We review the state-of-the-art methods used to quantify heat hazards and exposure, detail the sensitivity of people and infrastructure to overheating, and elaborate on the adaptive capacities that individuals and cities can undertake in response. We provide recommendations for both researchers and policymakers that will minimize overheating impacts. Thes...

show abstract

Effects of urban parks on the local urban thermal environment

Cited by 138 publications

References 39 publications

The Cooling Effect of Urban Parks and Its Monthly Variations in a Snow Climate City

The Cooling Effect of Urban Parks and Its Monthly Variations in a Snow Climate City

Evapotranspiration of urban landscapes in Los Angeles, California at the municipal scale

Integrated Assessment of Urban Overheating Impacts on Human Life

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About