Mitigating urban heat island effects in urban environments: strategies and tools

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, urban heat islands (UHIs) have become a major problem for humanity as a consequence of urbanization and industrialization. The main causes of UHI are the vast amounts of heat generated by urban structures as they consume and re-radiate solar energy and anthropogenic heat sources. The two heat sources cause an urban area’s temperature to rise above its surroundings, a phenomenon known as Urban Heat Island (UHI). Many approaches, methods, models, and investigative tools have been implemented to study and analysis this phenomenon. In general, green areas in cities are thought to be an effective approach to mitigate urban heat island effects and bring comfort to residents. The improvement of microclimatic conditions in urban environments is mostly influenced by evapotranspiration. Most of the studies show a rising trend in the UHI, which is linked to decreased plant cover and land-use changes. The main objectives of this paper were to explain the concept, formation factors, and influential factors of UHI. In addition, the most common strategies and tools that are applied in mitigating rising temperatures in urban areas were reviewed and summarized. The finding of several studies showed that increasing urban vegetation areas in addition to optimizing their spatial distribution and configuration is an effective strategy to reduce the impact of UHI.