Investigating the microclimate impacts of blue–green space development in the urban–rural fringe using the WRF-UCM model

Abstract

Blue–green spaces in the urban–rural fringe (URF) can help restrain endless urban sprawl and urban warming; however, the climate impact of these spaces has not been examined. Based on spatial transformation characteristics within the identified URF areas in Wuhan from 2000 to 2020, this study used the WRF-UCM model to observe microclimate impacts of different development modes and lake reduction in URF blue–green spaces. 1) Urban sprawl increased the average air temperature at 2 m (T2) by 0.82 °C and increased the 10-m wind speed (WS10) by 0.16 m/s in the city centre area. 2) The non-built-up areas (GW_CT) development mode reduced T2, with a maximum hourly cooling effect of 0.13 °C, and the open high-rise (GW_HR) and large low-rise (GW_LL) development modes increased the average nighttime T2 (with maximum hourly warming of 0.22 °C and 0.12 °C, respectively) as well as the WS10. 3) When built-up land expanded outwards and encroached on more than 25.89% of the lake area, the T2 and WS10 at the city centre significantly changed (0.17 °C and 0.1 m/s increased). This paper demonstrates the importance of conducting climate impact assessments for peri-urban blue-green space development.