Abstract
Recently, pocket green spaces (PGS), i.e., small green spaces, have attracted growing attention for their various ecological and social services. As a crucial part of urban green spaces in high-density urban areas, PGS facilitates recreation and relaxation for neighborhoods and thus improves the livability of cities at the local scale. However, whether and how the PGS cools the urban heat island effect is still unclear. This research was performed in the highly developed areas of the city of Shanghai during hot summer daytime. We applied a set of cooling effect indicators to estimate the cooling extent, cooling intensity, and cooling efficiency of PGS. We further examined whether and how landscape features within and surrounding the PGS influence its cooling effects. The results showed that 90% of PGS are cooler than their surroundings. Among the landscape features, the land surface temperature of PGS logarithmically decreased with its area, and the maximum local cool island intensity and maximum cooling area logarithmically increased with the area of PGS. The vegetation types and their composition within the PGS also influenced their surface temperature and the cooling effect. The PGS dominated by tree-shrub-grass showed the highest cooling efficiency. The surrounding landscape patterns, especially the patch density and the landscape shape index, influence the cooling effect of PGS at both class and landscape levels. These findings add new knowledge on factors influencing the cooling effect of PGS, and provide the biophysical theoretical basis for developing nature-based cooling strategies for urban landscape designers and planners.
Highlights
Urbanization is a primary driver of conversion of vegetated areas to impervious surfaces globally (Grimm et al, 2008; Weng, 2012)
We focus on the following questions: 1) What is the relationship between landscape features of pocket green spaces (PGS) and its land surface temperature? 2) How do the landscape features of PGS influence its cooling effect? and 3) How do the surrounding landscape patterns impact the cooling effect of PGS? The answers to these questions will provide novel insights for urban landscape designing and planning regarding the use of PGS for urban heat island (UHI) mitigation
We found that the vast majority of the PGS had a cooling effect on their surroundings
Summary
Urbanization is a primary driver of conversion of vegetated areas to impervious surfaces globally (Grimm et al, 2008; Weng, 2012). A primary environmental risk following urbanization is the urban heat island (UHI) effect (Oke, 1982). Urban heat island effect and its associated amplified heatwave could pose extraordinary heat stress on urban organisms (Harlan et al, 2006) and cause considerable heat-related health risks for urban residents, such as increasing heat-related morbidity and mortality. Pocket Green Space’s Cooling Effect Name Area. Pocket park Small public urban green spaces Pocket parks Pocket parks Pocket park. Small parks Small urban parks Small parks Pocket park Small urban park
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