Sustainable Mitigation Strategies for Urban Heat Island Effects in Urban Areas

Abstract

The globe is at a crossroads in terms of the urban heat island effect, with rising surface temperatures due to urbanization and an expanding built environment. This cause-and-effect connection may be linked to weather-related dangers, natural disasters, and disease outbreaks. Urbanization and industrialization will not lead to a secure and sustainable future. Finding solutions to problems such as the heat island effect is at the forefront of scientific research and policy development. Sustainable ways to decrease urban heat island impacts are a core principle for urban planners. This literature study examines the benefits of adding green infrastructure and sustainable materials in built-up areas to reduce the urban heat island effect. Materials such as reflective street pavements, coating materials including light-colored paint, phase-change materials, color-changing paint, fluorescence paint, and energy-efficient appliances are considered sustainable materials, whereas green infrastructure like green roofs, green walls, green parking and pavements, and shaded streets are considered to mitigate the urban heat island effect. The hurdles to the widespread adoption of such practices include a lack of governmental legislation, insufficient technological development, an erroneous estimation of economic gains, and unwillingness on the part of impacted parties.

Residential Rooftop Urban Agriculture: Architectural Design Recommendations

“…They provide an excellent opportunity to efficiently cultivate crops on rooftops that are typically unutilized [77,124]. A green roof comprises a layer of growing media utilized to fully or partially cover a building's rooftop, creating a suitable environment for growing plants [95,97,98,115,[125][126][127][128]. Green roofs are also called eco-roofs or living roofs [115].…”

“…Most vegetables, herbs, and flowers require a minimum of 15 cm of growing medium. (5) The planting: it is recommended to cultivate low-growing shallow-rooted plants [33,77,98,[126][127][128]133,134] (Figure 8). and irrigation is mandatory to cultivate food on shallow extensive green roofs [33,77,92,128].…”

“…Most vegetables, herbs, and flowers require a minimum of 15 cm of growing medium. (5) The planting: it is recommended to cultivate low-growing shallow-rooted plants [33,77,98,[126][127][128]133,134] (Figure 8). The following issues should be considered before installing green roofs: (1) It is crucial to consider the green roof's weight when designing a new building's structure [81,95].…”

“…(4) Green roofs can catch and absorb rainwater and slowly release it to the drainage system; therefore, the intensity and quantity of stormwater runoff can be lessened. Depending on the type of green roof, approximately 40% to 100% of stormwater runoff can be reduced [77,102,127,[150][151][152]. (5) Green roofs can contribute to limiting the urban heat island effect.…”

“…They reduce the air temperature on the rooftop through shade and increase evapotranspiration. Green roof temperatures can be between 1 • C and 4 • C lower than conventional roofs [115,127,132,[153][154][155][156][157][158][159]. ( 6) By installing green roofs, urban air quality can improve.…”