Effects of Urban Redevelopment on Surface Urban Heat Island

Abstract

Urban expansion and urban redevelopment can affect the surface urban heat island (SUHI) phenomenon, a major topic in the study of urban climates. The effects of urban expansion on SUHI have been studied by numerous researchers, while the effects of urban redevelopment remain unclear. We aimed to understand the effects of urban redevelopment on SUHI. Using the thermal bands of Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-8 TIRS, we retrieved the land surface temperature (LST) and calculated the SUHI intensity of the redevelopment areas during 2000–2019 in Guangzhou (China). Based on high spatial resolution images from Google Earth, 253 redevelopment areas were identified and classified as village low residential areas, low-industrial areas, middle residential areas, high residential areas, and commercial areas. Further, the change in SUHI intensity in redevelopment areas was analyzed. Results showed that urban redevelopment, including the transitions from urban village to high-rise commercial land, from low-rise industrial land to high-rise residential land, from industrial land to parking lot, from bare land to mid-rise buildings, from parking lot to high-rise commercial land, can considerably reduce the speed of increase of local SUHI intensity. These new findings have theoretical and practical implications for urban planning and redevelopment.