Maximum Perspective Research Articles

Quantification and mapping of the cooling effect of urban parks on the temperate monsoon climate zone

As a major type of Nature-based solutions(Nbs)to combat urban climate challenges in densely developed urban areas, urban parks (a combination of blue and green infrastructure) could mitigate regional microclimate by providing a significant cooling effect. In this study, the cooling effects of 50 urban parks in the temperate monsoon climate zone of China were comprehensively evaluated from the maximum perspective and accumulative perspective using four cooling indices, namely, park cooling area (PCA), park cooling efficiency (PCE), park cooling intensity (PCI) and park cooling gradient (PCG). Results have shown that 90 % of urban parks generate significant cooling effects, with land surface temperature (LST) averaging 3.35 °C lower than ambient LST. The park's characteristics significantly influenced the cooling effect (especially PCE, PCI, and PCG). Park size was the main factor contributing to the increase of PCA and the decrease of PCE. Additionally, the threshold value of efficiency for a 130-ha land area was calculated based on PCA. It was difficult to balance the simultaneous growth of cooling range efficiency and accumulative LST reduction efficiency. In the case of limited space, targeting parks with high PCE or PCI and PCG was recommended by designing the complexity of park shapes or increasing the proportion of water bodies. These findings help in the planning and construction of urban parks to rationalize resources to meet the different cooling needs of residents.

How can urban parks be planned to maximize cooling effect in hot extremes? Linking maximum and accumulative perspectives

How to maximize the cooling effect of urban parks in hot extremes has been closely linked to well-beings of citizens. Few studies have quantified urban parks' cooling effect in hot extremes from both maximum and accumulative perspectives. Here, we explored 65 urban parks' cooling effect based on spatially continuous cooling curves using multiple satellite images of Greater Xi'an (34°06’ ∼34°34′ N, 108°33’ ∼109°15′ E), one of China's metropolises with frequent hot extremes during July and August in 2019 summer. From maximum perspective, the urban parks cool down as far as 151.4 m, and covering 63.62 ha area, circa five times their own area in hot extremes; from accumulative perspective, the average cooling intensity is 0.78 °C along the whole continuous cooling distance spectrum, accumulated as 153.87 °C•m. And the urban parks show stronger accumulative cooling effect in hot extremes than the relative moderate temperatures. The cooling range could be maximized in large parks with dense trees, also in complex-shaped parks with strong interaction with surrounding environment. Small parks such as neighborhood parks located in the densely populated area are with maximum efficiency, cooling down about nine times their own area, which could serve as highly efficient cooling networks. Enhancing vegetation growth and coupling both blue and green infrastructures are always effective to increase accumulative cooling intensity in hot extremes. Our findings provide nature-based solutions (NBS) to counteracting heat stresses from the intense and frequent hot extremes in the future, also helpful for energy saving in the continuing climate change scenario.

How to quantify the cooling effect of urban parks? Linking maximum and accumulation perspectives

Urban parks can significantly alleviate the urban heat island, an ecological issue caused by urbanization. Clarifying urban park cooling effect can improve climate change adaptability and urban sustainability. However, park cooling effects were mainly explored in maximum perspective in previous studies, without considering the cumulative impact resulting from spatial continuity. Therefore, focusing on 24 urban parks in the main city zone of Shenzhen, China, such cumulative indexes as park cooling intensity and park cooling gradient, were proposed in this study and integrated with maximum indexes of park cooling area and park cooling efficiency, so as to explore park cooling effects comprehensively. The results showed that the park areas and cold spot areas of land surface temperature overlapped spatially by 64.40%. The partial correlation analysis showed that, park perimeter, area and shape index were significantly and positively correlated with park cooling area, with significantly negative correlation for park cooling efficiency. The vegetation index was significantly and positively correlated with park cooling intensity and park cooling gradient, and the impact of water body area ratio to all the four park cooling indexes was not significant. Then cooling effects of 24 urban parks were classified into four cooling capacity bundles, which showed that parks designed to serve different social functions behaved different cooling effects. The cooling effect of comprehensive parks was more efficient, with the same low value of all four cooling indexes for theme parks, high cooling intensity and cooling gradient for small ecological parks, and the highest cooling area for large ecological parks. This study proposed a comprehensive approach to measuring park cooling effects with both maximum and accumulation perspectives, which can guide urban park planning and design to maximize the ecological benefits.

Human Rights: Minimum and Maximum Perspectives

A focus on human rights violations leads to border control type human rights monitoring that provides only minimal human rights protection, as the borderline tends towards the bottom. Moreover, it is indifferent to degrees of human rights protection beyond the borderline, thus discouraging ambitious human rights agendas. The technique of progressive realisation may be the basis of improved border control monitoring that avoids the downward trend. Moreover, borderline control should be complemented with additional techniques that transform the dynamic of human rights from minimalism to maximalism.