Evaluation of the livability of arid urban environments under global warming: A multi-parameter approach

Abstract

To support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, know the livability spatial distribution in the global arid regions, It is necessary to construct a comprehensive, accurate and timeliness spatial livability evaluation method. This study combined the perspective of subjective perceived environment and objective environmental supplying. Several parameters (land use type, traffic accessibility, vegetation coverage, available water resources, terrain (slope, altitude, and topographic relief) and land surface temperature) were chosen to form the livability evaluation system for arid urban environment. A case study was carried out based on Yinchuan City. Livability was calculated pixel by pixel and the study area was divided into five grades: Least livable, Unlivable, Generally livable, Relatively livable, and Livable. Results show that the influence of indexes on livability was as follows: LST > LUT > TA > VC > AWR >A >S > TR. Moreover, the spatial distribution of livability is highly consistent with the corresponding population distribution. The surface thermal environment of cities may decrease human comfort, which agrees with the urban development features of Yinchuan. The proposed method is demonstrated to be robust and reliable and can provide new ideas for better construction of urban environments.