Urban heat islands in relation to green land use in European cities

Abstract

The phenomenon of increased temperature in cities compared to their rural environs, also referred to as urban heat island, is one of the most evident anthropogenic climatic modifications. Introducing green spaces and vegetation is the fastest, simplest, and a highly effective way of mitigating and adapting urban temperature conditions. The primary goal of the presented research is to identify the interrelationship between urban heat island magnitude (UHIM) and urban green infrastructure extent, shape, and distribution on European scale comparing different green space planning traditions -planning families (PFs). The UHIM for the European cities was calculated based on a reconstructed MODIS LST dataset of a period of ten years.The reasons for the arrangement of UHIMs according to PFs and green land use are not easily explained and are certainly influenced by a number of various conditions in different PFs. UHIM increases with the longitude of cities. In some of the PFs, the relation between the UHIM and land use proportion is characteristic for certain land uses, but a considerable difference between PFs regarding land use proportion with significant impact on UHIM can only be noted in case of a forest. The configuration and composition of the forest correlate with UHIM with statistical significance, but the share of the forest does not affect UHI in all PFs in the same way. While a higher proportion of forest, higher largest patch index, higher mean patch area, higher edge density and higher proportional landscape core is associated with a lower UHIM in the New member and Mediterranean PFs, the relationship in other PFs is reversed.Information on general patterns of UHIM occurrence in relation to urban green infrastructure characteristics could help urban planners and politicians introduce changes on the local level, which would help providing nature-based solutions for the mitigation of the UHI phenomenon. 1.

Urban ecosystem conditions and ecosystem services – a comparison between large urban zones and city cores in the EU

“…Amongst examined ECIs, the natural area and protected area show the strongest relationship with all three studied ES, and the urban green space indicated a critical role in counterbalancing the city core UHI effect. Similar to the current study, Nastran, Kobal, and Eler (2018) identified a significant influence on UHI magnitude provided by the proportion of artificial surfaces, urban green areas and agricultural areas within cities. Together, natural areas and urban green space are two complementary components of the urban GI, determining the capacity to provide services across scales (Maes et al 2015a).…”

Planning Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Flood Reduction and Thermal Comfort Enhancement

“…In particular, several works focus upon the application of NBS to achieve multiple benefits at the same time, e.g., [10][11][12][13]. Furthermore, several studies have assessed the effectiveness of NBS measures separately on either urban flooding, e.g., [2,[14][15][16], or on heat stress, e.g., [17][18][19][20][21][22]. However, urban flooding and heat stress frequently occur simultaneously, and NBS have the potential to be effective in mitigating both.…”

Three Decades of Urban Forest and Green Space Research and Practice in Croatia and Slovenia

“…Apart from this, two studies tackled the relation between urban green areas and heat islands effect. A study at the EU level showed that different types of green areas have different effects on lowering the surrounding heat and that especially a forest's configuration and composition has an important impact [136]. Perhaps more focused, [137] investigated how an urban park can have a cooling effect in days of extreme summer heat.…”

“…When it comes to the hydrology of urban forests or trees, Slovenian authors from two organizations (Faculty of Civil Engineering at University of Ljubljana and Slovenian Forestry Institute) published 12% of all publications (Figure 7), indicating the recognized importance of studying the role of urban green infrastructure in water regulation and purification [182]. Regarding urban forests and green spaces in the context of climate change, this topic is still not part of the scientific or professional discourse in Croatia and is in its infancy in Slovenia, e.g., [136,183].…”