Integrating green infrastructure, design scenarios, and social-ecological-technological systems for thermal resilience and adaptation: Mechanisms and approaches

Xizhen Huang, Runming Yao, Christos H. Halios, Prashant Kumar and Baizhan Li

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2025, vol. 212, issue C

Abstract: Urbanization and urban overheating present significant heat exposure risks to city dwellers, underscoring the urgent need to enhance the thermal resilience of social-ecological-technological systems. However, understanding how humans interact with the urban environment to design thermally comfortable adaptation spaces and formulate effective resilience strategies remains unclear. Therefore, the overarching aim of this study is to investigate critical factors and generate actionable insights that can inform the development of effective strategies for enhancing thermal resilience in urban environments. An integrative review approach was conducted combining a scoping review and a bibliometric analysis. The principal findings highlight the significance of green infrastructure, urban canyons, and building stock scenarios in designing comfortable microclimates. Behavioural adaptation for access to the design scenarios plays an important role in achieving thermal comfort. Key driving forces influencing design scenarios are identified, including social vulnerability protection and economic resource feasibility in the social system, air pollutant reduction and biodiversity protection in the ecological system, and cooling effectiveness and energy efficiency in technological systems. Stakeholder and expert involvement are necessary to develop interventions and strategies for strengthening thermal resilience. The proposed frameworks attempt to provide a comprehensive understanding of human-urban interaction and adaptation mechanisms and offer a general approach to developing interventions and strategies for thermal resilience. The findings contribute to providing planning and design strategies by improving the ability of the built environment and humans to adapt to escalating climate warming and the rise in extreme heatwave events, thereby supporting the sustainability and well-being of urban populations.

Keywords: Thermal adaptation; Comfort theory; Heat stress mitigation; Urban resilience; Resilient city; Nature-based solution; Urban ecosystem service; Sustainability; Urban systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.115422

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