Paved Areas Research Articles

Assessing the relationship between urban park spatial features and physical activity levels in Residents: A spatial analysis Utilizing drone remote sensing

The park environment is crucial for promoting physical activity (PA). While numerous studies show that park environments influence PA behavior, inconsistencies remain, likely due to varing research methods and parks types. This study employs a fixed spatial grid method to systematically sample four representative parks in Tianjin, China. High-precision orthophoto map (DOM) data from drones provided detailed environmental attributes (like tree canopy area, lawn area, and paved area) and PA characteristics (number of participants, intensity, diversity). The results show: 1) Cluster analysis grouped 1839 park grids into 12 environmental attribute integrations, each correlating with different PA characteristics. “Tree-lined jogging corridors” and “Large sports field areas” exhibit the highest PA intensity, while “Entrance plazas”, “Central plazas,” and “Open sports spaces” have the highest number of participants and PA diversity. 2) Correlation analysis shows that various environmental attributes, including Lawn Area, and Paved Area, are significantly correlated with PA characteristics. 3）Random Forest analysis indicates the key attributes are the paved area for the number of PA participants and PA diversity, and specialized sports facilities area for PA intensity. These findings support urban green space planning and highlight the importance of better park environments for public health.

Expert system as a tool for management of thermal comfort in heat environments in agribusiness

This study evaluated the environmental conditions of various microenvironments in an urbanized rural area, focusing on the analysis of the Kawamura's Discomfort Index (DIK) and the application of a mathematical model based on fuzzy logic to determine human well-being (HWB). Data were collected at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), Dourados-MS, Brazil, during the summer of 2023-2024, in five different microenvironments: no shading with asphalt floor, no shading with grass floor, no shading with concrete floor, tree cover with grassy floor, and tree cover with asphalt floor. Temperature and relative humidity were recorded to calculate DIK and evaluate environmental comfort levels in each location. A mathematical model based on fuzzy logic was also built to see its efficiency in representing real scenarios. In this model, the input variables were DIK and type of land cover, and the output variable was HWB. The results indicated that paved areas without shading presented the highest levels of thermal stress, while areas with greater vegetation cover showed better thermal comfort conditions. The fuzzy model developed proved to be an effective tool for representing levels of human well-being as a function of DIK and the type of land cover, allowing an accurate simulation of environmental scenarios. This research contributes to academia by interacting fuzzy logic with complex variables to accurately study human thermal comfort. Through this study, it was possible to suggest that urban planning policies should prioritize the maintenance and incorporation of vegetation, especially the presence of trees, to promote more comfortable and sustainable environments.

Thermal stress and comfort assessment in urban areas using Copernicus Climate Change Service Era 5 reanalysis and collected microclimatic data

In this initial study of a research project, this paper seeks to understand the thermal conditions in the cities of Lisbon and Munich, specifically focusing on Urban Heat Island intensity and on thermal comfort using the Universal Thermal Climate Index modeling data at the Local Climate Zone scale. Based on these datasets, Munich has exhibited more unfavourable thermal conditions than Lisbon. In terms of UHII, both cities have shown that low, medium, and high rise compact urban areas and bare rock or paved areas have the highest values, while sparsely built areas have the lowest. These results differ from the UTCI, which indicates that in Lisbon and Munich, these sparsely built areas as well as areas with low plants and vegetation are the most uncomfortable. In Munich, the population was exposed to very strong heat stress, while Lisbon experienced strong heat stress conditions. Conversely, low, medium, and high rise compact urban areas and densely wooded areas in Munich, and scattered trees areas and large low-rise urban areas in Lisbon, have demonstrated the lowest monthly mean and average maximum values. These results will be further explored in future studies in the city of Lisbon and cross-checked with data obtained from roving missions. This will enable a more detailed temporal and local analysis.

Performance of Sandwiched Kenaf Fibre and Sugarcane Husk in Treating Pavement Runoff

Rapid urbanization appears to cause more paved parking areas being provided which contributed into a greater impermeable surface area. Pavement runoff from the impermeable surface area does indeed have a high concentration of contaminants and it has been identified as a major cause of deterioration of nearby recipient water bodies. The more develop the country is, the poorer the water quality they have (Ashantha, et. al 2005). It carries pollutants, sediments, nutrients and heavy metals. An intensifying development in areas with impervious surface leads rainwater with small particles runs rapidly into drainages and rivers that may cause blockage that eventually leads to flash flood problem. Changes in land use increased the degree of soil imperviousness led to the increased of stormwater volume (Kundzewicz, et al., 2007). This study used a potential block system that is equipped with inner storage and expected to give minimal impact to the environment in order to improve the water quality and prevent ponding in the paved and impermeable areas.

Modelling long-term thermal comfort conditions in urban environments using a deep convolutional encoder-decoder as a computational shortcut

Different urban microscale models exist to model street-level mean radiation temperature (Tmrt). However, these models are computationally expensive, albeit to varying degrees. We present a computational shortcut using a convolutional encoder-decoder network (U-Net) to predict pedestrian level (1.1 m a.g.l.) Tmrt at a building-resolved scale (1 × 1 m). SOLWEIG is used to create spatial training data for 68 days at hourly resolution in the city of Freiburg, Germany. Validation of the model was carried out in two steps: First, SOLWEIG (and U-Net) were validated against Tmrt point measurements. Second, U-Net was validated against SOLWEIG on 6 areas and 12 days resulting in a MAE of 2.4 K. The U-Net is 22 times faster than SOLWEIG, and thus able to emulate a micrometeorological physical model with computational superiority. As a demonstration case, U-Net is applied to model Tmrt for the urbanized area of Freiburg for two complete 30-year periods (1961–1990, 1991–2020) driven by hourly ERA5-Land reanalysis data. Summertime daily maximum Tmrt increased on average by 2.5 K, whereas summertime daily maximum air temperature increased by only 1.5 K. Maximum Tmrt increase is stronger on non-tree covered paved areas (2.8 K) than on tree covered grassy areas (1.8 K).

The effect of the street environment on two types of essential physical activity in industrial neighborhoods from the perspective of public health: a study from the Harbin low-income population health survey, China

A large number of low-income residents in industrial neighborhoods rarely engage in recreational and physical activities in green spaces in extremely cold weather. This study mainly explores the relationship between the street environment and physical activities under special industrial properties and extreme cold weather conditions. In addition, we further divide essential physical activity into two categories, life-type and traffic-type physical activity, to explore and refine the related studies.We use principal component analysis to classify the street environment indicators and use multiple linear regression to analyze the impact of each indicator on different physical activities. The conclusions are as follows. For low-income people, the street environment in industrial neighborhoods has a much greater impact on life-type physical activity than traffic-type physical activity, and there is a conflict between the two. In addition, a high greening density is not conducive to either type of physical activity in the street environment. It reduces the paved area of streets and create sports conflicts between people undertaking different physical activities. The findings contribute to the development and optimization of public health research on environmental interventions in industrial neighborhood streets and enable effective recommendations for increasing outside physical activity among low-income people in severe weather conditions. In future studies, we will use the physical environment as a mediator to explore the relationship between the street environment and high-frequency chronic diseases in old industrial neighborhoods.

Changes in paved space, green infrastructure and tree canopy cover in front gardens: a case study of two contrasting housing estates in Liverpool, England

ABSTRACT The increase in paved areas in residential front gardens is of growing concern. Despite the importance of UK front gardens as green spaces, the topic of changes to front gardens has not been much studied. We case studied the front gardens of two housing estates in Liverpool, England with different social economic statuses, examining changes in terms of paved space, greenspace, and tree canopy cover over a six-year period between 2012–2018. Tree condition and the extent of tree work carried out were also recorded for analysis. There was a trend for increased paved space in the front gardens of the more affluent Aintree Village, with front garden greenspace decreasing by 3.9% in the six-year study period. The less affluent Netherton Park experienced a smaller decline in greenspace of 1.2% over the same period. The housing estates were also found to have contrasting tree canopy cover and tree management. In Aintree Village 71% of front garden trees received tree work and the mean tree canopy cover decreased from 4% to 2.4%. In contrast, Netherton Park saw only 8.3% of trees receiving tree work over the same period. In Aintree Village 41.7% of front garden trees present in 2012 were removed by 2018, with 12.9% of the removals associated with increased paved areas in front gardens. Understanding the socioeconomic pressures that influence changes in residential front gardens is important in addressing this damaging trend and can inform planning policy and the design of new residential areas.

An Appraisal of Models for Roads Pavement Failures in Ebonyi State Nigeria

Nigeria road pavement is subjected to have low road density of 23km/m2 of the pave land area and justification for this material stress, functional disability and loss of cohesion. In Ebonyi state there is needs to assess the impact of failed road pavement on economic growth and social stability of the state. Most of the state urban roads failed because of many vehicles passing in definite section of the road per unit time at any suitable period, subjecting the paved areas into physically disintegration of crystalline aggregated material informed of ruttings, pothole, raveling and cracks and some deteriorate or decomposed in a large number of cement aggregate into organic matter causing chemical separations and moisture attack on the paved area by attacking the fabric bond of the binding pavement. The aim of this research is to analyze roads pavement failures for effective cost management. The research design comprised extensive literature. This research was to facilitate the measurement of variables on affected areas causing surface depression and surface deterioration on large number of aggregated crystalline material from rehabilitation of the respective road projects. The research was design to measure stress types, stress values, stress seventy and stress density derive from affected paved area. The data collected were presented in tables, percentage, and pie chart and analyzed with multiple regressions. The findings will establish the state of stress over strain will be sustainable for road pavement in urban areas. The model implies based on the data collected the cause of stress values in urban roads increase by 0.284 (28.4%) were trigger increase in road rehabilitation, repairs and remedial works by 0.77, 0.31 and 0.60 and which were ascertain the level of cost implementation for effective life cycle costing on urban roads in the state.

Stormwater Drainage Design (Case Study: UTHM Campus)

The impervious surface has risen as a result of development is growing rapidly. Impervious surfaces are considered to have poor water permeability as the surface prevents water from penetrating it which can lead to increased surface runoff. The rise of surface runoff at impervious area such as paved road and parking area will be far more severe especially when there is no existing drain nearby at Jalan Kolej in UTHM Campus. Along with the condition of road chambers that have slope to drain surface runoff to the road shoulder also may increase the surface runoff drastically in that area as the water will accumulate more due to slow infiltration rate. Therefore, the objective of this case study is to determine runoff problem at impervious area that may cause flash flood as well as to propose a good design for new storm water drainage. In this study, the rational method and Manning's equation were applied. Rational method was used to determine the peak runoff in the study area and Manning's equation was used to ensure that the stormwater drainage designed were able to accommodate peak surface runoff. As a result, it was discovered that the poor infiltration rate in the study area was also a contributing factor to increasing impervious surface runoff. The lowest infiltration rate discovered in UTHM Campus was 9.78 mm/hr. In order to decreased surface runoff on impervious surfaces while minimising the risk of flash floods, the designed stormwater drain should be able to accommodate peak flow. The peak discharge at the study area was at sub-catchment 3 with 1.723 m³/s while the designed stormwater drainage capacity was 4.119 m3/s. By doing this study, runoff problems were identified and a stormwater drain was developed to mitigate the problem in the study area.

Quantitative Tools for the Prediction of Pavement Damages Associated with Urban Trees

Background: Tree pits are urban green infrastructures in paved areas. But tree roots and flares, especially of larger trees, may come into conflict with pavement, resulting in tree health decline and repair costs. This study aimed to (1) establish allometric relationships between diameter at breast height (DBH) and trunk flare diameter (TFD) of common urban tree species, and (2) identify factors affecting the presence and magnitude of protruding roots and flares. Methods: The terms “protruding roots” and “protruding flares” were strictly defined as roots and flares reaching or exceeding the border between the open soil and the adjacent paving material. The study surveyed 1,100 trees of 14 species planted in tree pits in Chai Wan, Hong Kong. Results: DBH was a significant predictor of TFD but was less significant when trees with protruding roots or flares were considered separately. In most logistic models, DBH was significantly and positively related to the odds ratio of the occurrence of protruding roots and flares. Overall, a centimetre increase in DBH brought 1.049 to 1.114 times higher likelihood of protruding roots and flares. Multiple regression suggested that for every square-metre increase in the open soil area in tree pits, the maximum length of protruding roots and flares increased by 0.154 to 0.172 m. This relationship could be attributed to the underlying association between DBH and open soil area. Species-specific regression results were tabulated to allow more accurate estimation of protruding roots and flares. Conclusion: For urban planners and pavement engineers, the approach recommended in this study could be adopted to optimise urban greening and pavement design.

Impact of landuse change and urbanization on urban heat island effect in Narayanganj city, Bangladesh: A remote sensing-based estimation

Urban development always had a significant influence on Land Surface Temperature (LST). The impacts of urbanization on the trend of temperature rise and the degradation of the ecological environment over a period of 8 years before and after the establishment of Narayanganj City Corporation have been studied in this paper. LST has been calculated by utilizing land-use change map and computation of vegetation coverage using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), assessment of building coverage using the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), and using the Urban Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI) for the evaluation of ecological index. The result indicates that the LST has been tremendously affected by the built-up areas, especially where the heavy industries had been established. The mean LST between 2011 and 2019 went upward by 1.86°C. A negative correlation has been found between the LST and NDVI, which suggests that the green coverage debilitates the effect on urban temperature. On the other hand, the positive correlation found between the LST and NDBI shows that the built-up or paved area intensifies the LST and gives rise to Urban Heat Island (UHI). The areas around vegetation and waterbody showed comparatively lower temperatures while the temperature of the built-up area exhibited an increasing trend. The study reveals that proper heat action plans and toolkits are necessary for urban heat management and ensuring sustainable city development.

Environmental risk assessment of low molecule benzotriazoles in urban road rainwaters in Poland

This study aimed to identify and quantify benzotriazoles (BTRs) emissions from road traffic and paved areas in an urban environment. Heterocyclic organic compounds BTRs are an emerging threat, under-recognized and under-analyzed in most environmental and water legislation. They are hazardous, potentially mutagenic, and carcinogenic micropollutants, not susceptible to effective biodegradation, and they move easily through the trophic chain, contaminating the environment and water resources. Traffic activities are a common source of BTR emissions in the urban environment, directly polluting human habitats through the different routes and numerous vehicles circulating in the cities. Using twelve heterogeneous locations scattered over a metropolitan area in Poland as a case study, this research analyzed the presence of BTRs in water samples from runoff produced from rainwater and snowmelt. 1H-BTR, 4Me-BTR, 5Me-BTR and 5Cl-BTR were detected in the tested runoff water. 5Cl-BTR was present in all samples and in the highest concentrations reaching 47,000 ng/L. Risk quotients calculated on the basis of the determined concentrations indicate that the highest environmental risk is associated with the presence of 5Cl-BTR and the sum of 4Me-BTR and 5Me-BTR, and the most sensitive organisms are bacteria and invertebrates. The results indicate that it is possible to associate the occurrence of these contaminants with the type of cover, traffic intensity, and vehicle type.

Correlation Analysis of Thermal Comfort and Landscape Characteristics: A Case Study of the Coastal Greenway in Qingdao, China

With the acceleration of urbanization throughout the world, climate problems related to climate change including urban heat islands and global warming have become challenges to urban human settlements. Numerous studies have shown that greenways are beneficial to urban climate improvement and can provide leisure places for people. Taking the coastal greenway in Qingdao as the research object, mobile measurements of the microclimate of the greenway were conducted in order to put forward an evaluation method for the research of outdoor thermal comfort. The results showed that different vegetation coverage affected the PET (physiologically equivalent temperature), UTCI (Universal Thermal Climate Index) as well as thermal comfort voting. We found no significant correlation between activities, age, gender, and thermal comfort voting. Air temperature sensation and solar radiation sensation were the primary factors affecting the thermal comfort voting of all sections. Otherwise, within some sections, wind sensation and humidity sensation were correlated with thermal sensation voting and thermal comfort voting, respectively. Both PET and UTCI were found to have a negative correlation with the vegetation coverage on both sides of the greenway. However, the vegetation coverage had positive correlation (R = 0.072) for thermal sensation and significant positive correlation (R = 0.077*) for thermal comfort. The paved area cover was found to have a positive correlation with PET and UTCI, while having a negative correlation with thermal sensation (R = −0.049) and thermal comfort (R = −0.041). This study can provide scientific recommendations for the planning and design of greenway landscapes to improve thermal comfort.

Groundwater recharge in phreatic aquifers, a case study: modeling unsaturated zone and recharge rates of the Rio Claro Aquifer using Hydrus-1D

The hydrological process in which water infiltrates from the soil surface to the top of saturated zone of an aquifer is called groundwater recharge. A better understanding of this process is one of the keys for a proper management of an aquifer system, especially in places where water supply relies solely on groundwater. This study presents the applicability of the one-dimensional mathematical model HYDRUS-1D® to simulate the unsaturated zone of the Rio Claro Aquifer, southeastern Brazil, in order to interpret the behavior of the aquifer recharge over time and under different rainfall regimes. Deriving out of simulations, the influence of different precipitation rates, as well as the effect of different land use on the recharge zones was assessed. Results enabled us to observe the variation of distinct properties of the soil profile, such as the spatio-temporal changes in hydraulic conductivity and soil moisture content at different soil horizons and depths due to flow and rainfall dynamics. Moreover, the average infiltration time from the soil surface to the top of saturated zone was estimated to be between 85-90 days. The precipitation/recharge ratio was at 20-30% intervals, presenting higher values in periods of greater precipitation. Likewise, changes in land use such as the increase in paved areas led to a nearly virtual zero recharge emphasizing the importance of uncovered areas for natural aquifer recharge processes.

Land-Use Change and Bioenergy Production: Soil Consumption and Characterization of Anaerobic Digestion Plants

The exploitation of bioenergy plays a key role in the process of decarbonising the economic system. Huge efforts have been made to develop bioenergy and other renewable energy systems, but it is necessary to investigate the costs and problems associated with these technologies. Soil consumption and, in particular, soil sealing are some of these aspects that should be carefully evaluated. Agricultural biogas plants (ABPs) often remove areas dedicated to agricultural activities and require broad paved areas for the associated facilities. This study aimed to (i) assess the surfaces destined to become facilities and buildings in ABPs, (ii) correlate these surfaces with each other and to the installed powers of the plants, and (iii) estimate the consumption of soil in bioenergy applications in Italy. Two hundred ABPs were sampled from an overall population of 1939, and the extents of the facilities were measured by aerial and satellite observations. An ABP with an installed power of 1000 kW covers an average surface area of up to 23,576 m2. Most of this surface, 97.9%, is obtained from previously cultivated areas. The ABP analysis proved that 24.7 m2 of surface area produces 1 kW of power by bioenergy. The obtained model estimated a total consumption of soil by ABPs in Italy of 31,761,235 m2. This research can support stakeholders in cost-benefit analyses to design energy systems based on renewable energy sources.

Temperature of Paved Streets in Urban Mockups and Its Implication of Reflective Cool Pavements

In summer, urban heat islands increase building cooling demands, aggravate air pollution, and cause heat-related illnesses. As a mitigation strategy, reflective cool pavements have been deemed an effective measure to decrease the temperature in urban areas. However, the reflection of paved streets in an urban area will be different from that in an open area. It remains unknown which fraction of paved streets needs to be cooled upmost, and if increasing the albedo of paved streets can effectively reduce their temperature. This study measured the skin temperature of two urban mockups, of which one contained white streets and the other, gray streets. The streets were orientated at different strikes. It was found that in summer the East-West street was hotter than both the cross street and the South-North street. At nighttime, the heat released from building blocks kept the paved street about 0.2 °C hotter than paved areas in open spaces. It was also found that street orientation controlled the skin temperature of an urban street while the sky view factor (or building height and street width) acted in a secondary role only. Increasing the albedo of the paved street in an urban canyon effectively reduced the skin temperature of the street. Reflective pavements should be built preferentially on East-West streets and the cross streets.

Mapping the Habitat Suitability of West Nile Virus Vectors in Southern Quebec and Eastern Ontario, Canada, with Species Distribution Modeling and Satellite Earth Observation Data

Transmission of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) relies on the presence of their vectors. Good knowledge of their habitat distribution could inform of their presence and then the potential transmission risk. In Canada, West Nile virus (WNV), a VBD transmitted by mosquitoes of the Culex genus to birds, humans, and other mammals, was first reported in 2002. Since then, human cases have been reported every year. To reduce the health burden of the disease and to guide the vector control efforts, this work aims to provide a map of habitat suitability of the main vectors of WNV, Culex pipiens-restuans, in southern Quebec and eastern Ontario at 30 m spatial resolution. Landsat 8-OTI/TIRS images were combined with existing geographical data to characterize vegetated and paved areas in urban and peri-urban areas and to create a land use land cover map related to environmental determinants of Culex pipiens-restuans. Landscape metrics were calculated to characterize the neighborhood environment. They were used with 1008 presence sites of the vectors to build species distribution models with Maxent, a model based on the maximum entropy principle, and to predict habitat suitability for Culex pipiens-restuans in the study area. The performance of the models was very good, with a mean area under the curve of 0.92 and a continuous Boyce index of 0.97. A habitat suitability map of the whole study area was created for Culex pipiens-restuans. The resulting map and environment analysis highlight the importance of the edge of vegetation and mixed or paved areas for the bio-ecology of Culex pipiens-restuans.

How does urban green space feature influence physical activity diversity in high-density built environment? An on-site observational study

Urban green space (UGS) plays an important role in maintaining and promoting public health because it provides opportunities for outdoor physical activities (PA). Many studies have proved that different UGS characteristics, such as area, shape, distance, etc., have a certain impact on the intensity or frequency of PA. It is noteworthy that most studies are completed on a city scale, which explains how ensemble characteristics of a park affect PA. However, few researchers have explored the relations between UGS features and physical activities at the parcel level. To address this gap, this study has investigated the effect of multiple features of UGS on the diversity of PA, with downtown Shanghai as the study site.To identify types of PA and features of UGS based on on-site observation of a total of 101 sites in five urban parks located in a central district of Shanghai, China, we established an ordinal logistic regression with total types of PA (PA diversity hereafter) as the dependent variable and UGS characteristics as independent variables. The results show that green coverage ratio and diversity of shrubs are positively related to PA diversity, while diversity of trees has an inverse impact. Moreover, the paved area shape index and green view ratio are negatively correlated with PA diversity, which suggests that the irregular shape of paved areas with winding edges and excessive green view ratio are factors detrimental to PA diversity. These findings provide pertinent guidance in the design of UGS for the promotion of PA.

Storm water Management in Airport using Oil Water Separator System

Oil contamination in the Storm water has been generally overlooked, even though it causes major environmental pollution and is a substantial threat to all the species in the ecosystem. Likewise, the treatment of oil-contaminated Storm water in public areas and general industries, especially in airports, has largely been ignored. Airports are known as one of the most potent oil contamination contributors through the jet fuel that pollutes the local waterways and Storm water. However, little information regarding the specific actions taken to treat the Storm water contaminated with jet fuel oil in airport facilities, is available.The objective of this paper is to discuss the Storm water management that using the oil-water separator system in airports contaminated with oil. Specifically, this paper highlights the contaminants of Storm water run-off from airports and the oil-water separator system in airports.The use of a corrugated plate interceptor (CPI) for Storm water management in airports was discussed.The success in treating Storm water largely depends on the improvement of infrastructure, the capturing of pollutants and nutrients from the Storm water flows, in addition to the use of wetlands to improve the ecology and water quality of streams and rivers. Incorporating an oil-water separator system into the Storm water treatment system in the airports setting is quite significant since the airport is known for its large and paved areas containing oil, grease or jet fuel.The treatment of the airports Storm water contaminated with oil, grease and jet fuel could significantly reduce the contamination for a cleaner environment. The CPI can be used to separate the oils from the water and then retains the oils safely until removal.

Fractal dimension of tree crowns explains species functional-trait responses to urban environments at different scales.

The evolution of form and function of trees of diverse species has taken place over hundreds of millions of years, while urban environments are relatively new on an evolutionary time scale, representing a novel set of environmental constraints for trees to respond to. It is important to understand how trees of different species, planted in these anthropogenically-structured urban ecosystems, are responding to them. Many theories have been advanced to understand tree form and function, including several that suggest the fractal-like geometry of trees is a direct reflection of inherent and plastic morphological and physiological traits that govern tree growth and survival. In this research, we analyzed the "fractal dimension" of thousands of tree crowns of many different tree species, growing in different urban environments across the United States, to learn more about the nature of trees and their responses to urban environments at different scales. Our results provide new insights regarding how tree crown fractal dimension relates to balances between hydraulic- and light-capture-related functions (e.g., drought and shade tolerance). Our findings indicate that trees exhibit reduced crown fractal dimension primarily to reduce water loss in hotter cities. More specifically, the intrinsic drought tolerance of the studied species arises from lower surface to volume ratios at both whole-crown and leaf scales, preadapting them to drought stress in urban ecosystems. Needle-leaved species showed a clear trade-off between optimizing the fractal dimension of their crowns for drought vs. shade tolerance. Broad-leaved species showed a fractal crown architecture that responded principally to inherent drought tolerance. Adjusting for the temperature of cities and intrinsic species effects, the fractal dimension of tree crowns was lower in more heavily urbanized areas (with greater paved area or buildings) and due to crowns conflicting with utility wires. With expectations for more urbanization and generally hotter future climates, worldwide, our results add new insights into the physiological ecology of trees in urban environments, which may help humans to provide more hospitable habitats for trees in urbanized areas and to make better decisions about tree selection in urban forest management.