Abstract
The cooling effect of green infrastructure (GI) is becoming a hot topic on mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Alterations to the green space are a viable solution for reducing land surface temperature (LST), yet few studies provide specific guidance for landscape planning adapted to the different regions. This paper proposed and defined the landscape complexity and the threshold value of cooling effect (TVoE). Results find that: (1) GI provides a better cooling effect in the densely built-up area than the green belt; (2) GI with a simple form, aggregated configuration, and low patch density had a better cooling intensity; (3) In the densely built-up area, TVoE of the forest area is 4.5 ha, while in the green belt, TVoE of the forest and grassland area is 9 ha and 2.25 ha. These conclusions will help the planners to reduce LST effectively, and employ environmentally sustainable planning.
Highlights
As the population shifts from rural to urban areas, the proportion of the urban population is gradually increasing
The green infrastructure (GI) of the densely built-up area and the green belt covered the area of 209.08 km2 and 655.16 km2 respectively, and the average land surface temperature (LST) () was 32.49 °C and 29.76 °C, with a difference of 2.73 °C
The results of this study showed that a scattered GI system with the simple form and rich GI composition in the densely built-up area, and a compact GI system with the simple form and less diversity of GI types in the green belt might be the most practical and efficient way to cool the urban heat island (UHI) (Figure 4), which were consistent with the results of some articles, such as the fractal dimension and distribution of GI had a positively correlated with the cooling effect in Maryland (Zhou et al, 2011), and the urban cooling island (UCI) intensity was negatively correlated with the dispersive distribution of GI in Tehran (Bokaie et al, 2016)
Summary
As the population shifts from rural to urban areas, the proportion of the urban population is gradually increasing. One of the most well-known phenomena should belong to the urban heat island (UHI) (Voogt & Oke, 2003), which refers to the densely built-up area has a higher land surface temperature (LST) than the suburbs. This phenomenon is mainly caused by the conversion of surface thermal properties and the heat generated by energy consumption (Li & Zhao, 2012; Solecki et al, 2005).
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