Abstract
Green infrastructure is well recognized as a key urban climate mitigation strategy. In line with this, and following a central government decree, Jakarta Municipal Government has created a green infrastructure target of 30% underpinned by a green space weighting factor. This study questions the efficacy of such a “universal” target setting from the point of view of outdoor thermal comfort and demonstrates the basis for an alternative approach. Based on a “new’ green factor developed from a systematic analysis of the literature, thermal comfort simulations of representative local climate zones (LCZ) show that improvements in current green space policy are possible. We enumerate a rational basis for specifying green space targets per local area based on contextual realities as captured by the LCZ approach. Such a nuanced approach to mitigate the human comfort consequences of inadvertent urban growth is not only more contextually appropriate but also enhances the feasibility of achieving the intended goal of urban greening in Jakarta.
Highlights
Elevated temperatures resulting from global climate change super-imposed on urban warming due to the urban heat island (UHI) effect are a serious public health concern [1]
Studies on the quantitative and qualitative requirements for multiple ecosystem service provision of urban green space in compact and/or rapidly growing cities are needed [39]. This would help to better contextualize the green space quantification that we have developed in Table 3 that attempted to synthesize the current state of knowledge from different cities around the world, but not specific to warm, humid cities
The present work shows that a more nuanced approach to green space target setting is needed to manage local warming. While this is likely to be true in many cities, the need for such an approach in rapidly changing, warm, humid cities is urgent, given the pressures on land and the rapidity of urban growth
Summary
Elevated temperatures resulting from global climate change super-imposed on urban warming due to the urban heat island (UHI) effect are a serious public health concern [1]. This is problematic in hot, humid regions of the world, where the increasing frequencies of heatwaves are likely to threaten urban resilience to climate change. Green infrastructure (GI) has been proposed as one possible intervention that may help mitigate the UHI effect and to enhance human health and comfort. Green infrastructure can reduce the impact of air pollutants, enhance carbon sequestration, contribute to rainwater infiltration and flooding risk control, cool the air through tree transpiration and shading, and reduce energy consumption and the UHI effect
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