TY - JOUR
T1 - Urban heat mitigation by green and blue infrastructure: drivers, effectiveness, and future needs
AU - Kumar, Prashant
AU - Debele, Sisay
AU - Khalili, Soheila
AU - Halios, Christos H.
AU - Sahani, Jeetendra
AU - Aghamohammadi, Nasrin
AU - de Fatima Andrade, Maria
AU - Athanassiadou, Maria
AU - Bhui, Kamaldeep
AU - Calvillo, Nerea
AU - Cao, Shi-Jie
AU - Coulon, Frederic
AU - Edmondson, Jill L.
AU - Fletcher, David
AU - Dias de Freitas, Edmilson
AU - Guo, Hai
AU - Hort, Matthew C.
AU - Katti, Madhusudan
AU - Kjeldsen, Thomas Rodding
AU - Lehmann, Steffen
AU - Locosselli, Giuliano Maselli
AU - Malham, Shelagh K.
AU - Morawska, Lidia
AU - Parajuli, Rajan
AU - Rogers, Christopher DF.
AU - Yao, Runming
AU - Wang, Fang
AU - Wenk, Jannis
AU - Jones, Laurence
N1 - This work has been commissioned by the UKRI (EPSRC, NERC, AHRC) funded RECLAIM Network Plus project (EP/W034034/1; EP/W033984) under its ‘synthesis review’ series. The following authors acknowledge the funding received through their grants: PK and LJ (NE/X002799/1; NE/X002772/1); LJ (H2020 REGREEN, EU Grant agreement No. 821016; 2021YFE93100); GML (FAPESP 2019/08783-0); CDFR (EP/R017727 ); LM (ARC Grant No. IC220100012); HG (RGC Grant No. C5024-21G); MFA and EDF (FAPESP Grant No. 2016/18438-0; 2022/02365-5); SJC (NSFC Grant No. 52225005), RY (NSFC Grant No. 52278090); FW (NKP Grant No. 2020YFC180700); JE (NE/X000443/1); and FC (NE/M010961/1; NE/V002171/1). The authors thank Andrea Sofia Majjul Fajardo for her contribution to the initial design of certain figures. We also thank the team members of GCARE and its Guildford Living Lab (GLL), as well as the participants of the RECLAIM Network Plus Horizon Scanning Workshop.
PY - 2024/2/7
Y1 - 2024/2/7
N2 - The combination of urbanisation and global warming leads to urban overheating and compounds the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events due to climate change. Yet, the risk of urban overheating can be mitigated by urban green-blue-grey infrastructures (GBGI), such as parks, wetlands, and engineered greening, which have the potential to effectively reduce summer air temperatures. Despite many reviews, the evidence bases on quantified GBGI cooling benefits remains partial and the practical recommendations for implementation are unclear. This systematic literature review synthesises the evidence base for heat mitigation and related co-benefits, identifies knowledge gaps, and proposes recommendations for their implementation to maximise their benefits. After screening 27,486 papers, 202 were reviewed, based on 51 GBGI types categorised under 10 main divisions. Certain GBGI (green walls, parks, street trees) have been well-researched for their urban cooling capabilities. However, several other GBGI have received negligible (zoological garden, golf course, estuary) or minimal (private garden, allotment) attention. The most efficient air cooling was observed in botanical gardens (5.0±3.5°C), wetlands (4.9±3.2°C), green walls (4.1±4.2°C), street trees (3.8±3.1°C), and vegetated balconies (3.8±2.7°C). Under changing climate conditions (2070-2100) with consideration of RCP8.5, there is a shift in climate subtypes, either within the same climate zone (e.g., Dfa to Dfb and Cfb to Cfa) or across other climate zones (e.g., Dfb (continental warm-summer humid) to BSk (dry, cold semi-arid) and Cwa (temperate) to Am (tropical)). These shifts may result in lower efficiency for the current GBGI in the future. Given the importance of multiple services, it is crucial to balance their functionality, cooling performance, and other related co-benefits when planning for the future GBGI. This global GBGI heat mitigation inventory can assist policymakers and urban planners in prioritising effective interventions to reduce the risk of urban overheating, filling research gaps, and promoting community resilience.
AB - The combination of urbanisation and global warming leads to urban overheating and compounds the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events due to climate change. Yet, the risk of urban overheating can be mitigated by urban green-blue-grey infrastructures (GBGI), such as parks, wetlands, and engineered greening, which have the potential to effectively reduce summer air temperatures. Despite many reviews, the evidence bases on quantified GBGI cooling benefits remains partial and the practical recommendations for implementation are unclear. This systematic literature review synthesises the evidence base for heat mitigation and related co-benefits, identifies knowledge gaps, and proposes recommendations for their implementation to maximise their benefits. After screening 27,486 papers, 202 were reviewed, based on 51 GBGI types categorised under 10 main divisions. Certain GBGI (green walls, parks, street trees) have been well-researched for their urban cooling capabilities. However, several other GBGI have received negligible (zoological garden, golf course, estuary) or minimal (private garden, allotment) attention. The most efficient air cooling was observed in botanical gardens (5.0±3.5°C), wetlands (4.9±3.2°C), green walls (4.1±4.2°C), street trees (3.8±3.1°C), and vegetated balconies (3.8±2.7°C). Under changing climate conditions (2070-2100) with consideration of RCP8.5, there is a shift in climate subtypes, either within the same climate zone (e.g., Dfa to Dfb and Cfb to Cfa) or across other climate zones (e.g., Dfb (continental warm-summer humid) to BSk (dry, cold semi-arid) and Cwa (temperate) to Am (tropical)). These shifts may result in lower efficiency for the current GBGI in the future. Given the importance of multiple services, it is crucial to balance their functionality, cooling performance, and other related co-benefits when planning for the future GBGI. This global GBGI heat mitigation inventory can assist policymakers and urban planners in prioritising effective interventions to reduce the risk of urban overheating, filling research gaps, and promoting community resilience.
U2 - 10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100588
DO - 10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100588
M3 - Article
SN - 2666-6758
JO - The Innovation
JF - The Innovation
M1 - 100588
ER -
