The influence of urban spatial pattern on land surface temperature for different functional zones

Abstract

Urban functional zone (UFZ) comprises the basic unit of urban planning, with various production activities. Understanding the landscape heterogeneity in UFZs may be a way to mitigate urban heat island (UHI). The region within fifth ring road in Beijing is selected as the study area. Six common UFZ types were selected to understand the effects of three types of factors (surface biophysical parameters, building form, and landscape metrics) on land surface temperature (LST). A one-way analysis of variance and geographical detector were used to express spatial heterogeneity and key influencing factors of LST in UFZ, respectively. The results indicate the following: (1) the UFZ types, in order from highest to lowest LST, are industrial, commercial, public service, government, high-density residential, and recreational zones. The LST of industrial and recreational zones are significantly different from other zones, but other four types of UFZ exhibited similar thermal conditions. (2) The key influencing factors of LST in UFZs differ. Surface biophysical parameters have a significant effect on all UFZs. Building form in areas of high building height and density, such as commercial and high-density residential zones, should be the focus of UHI mitigation, whereas optimizing land cover composition and spatial configuration in other UFZs is more likely to alleviate LST. In addition, the LST is determined not only by the UFZ type and internal structure, but also by the complexity and diversity. Identifying UHI mitigation sensitivity metrics within UFZ will help improve the thermal environment of urban areas and provide strategies for resisting UHI.