An Evidence-Based Review of Impacts, Strategies and Tools to Mitigate Urban Heat Islands

Walter Leal Filho, Leyre Echevarria Icaza, Victoria Omeche Emanche and Abul Quasem Al-Amin
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Walter Leal Filho: HAW Hamburg, Faculty of Life Sciences, Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management”, Ulmenliet 20, D-21033 Hamburg, Germany
Leyre Echevarria Icaza: Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 134, 2628 BL Delft, The Netherlands
Victoria Omeche Emanche: HAW Hamburg, Faculty of Life Sciences, Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management”, Ulmenliet 20, D-21033 Hamburg, Germany
Abul Quasem Al-Amin: Institute of Energy Policy and Research (IEPRe), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), 43000 Kajang, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-29

Abstract: The impacts of climate changes on cities, which are home to over half of the world’s population, are already being felt. In many cases, the intensive speed with which urban centres have been growing means that little attention has been paid to the role played by climatic factors in maintaining quality of life. Among the negative consequences of rapid city growth is the expansion of the problems posed by urban heat islands (UHIs), defined as areas in a city that are much warmer than other sites, especially in comparison with rural areas. This paper analyses the consistency of the UHI-related literature in three stages: first it outlines its characteristics and impacts in a wide variety of cities around the world, which poses pressures to public health in many different countries. Then it introduces strategies which may be employed in order to reduce its effects, and finally it analyses available tools to systematize the initial high level assessment of the phenomenon for multidisciplinary teams involved in the urban planning process. The analysis of literature on the characteristics, impacts, strategies and digital tools to assess on the UHI, reveals the wide variety of parameters, methods, tools and strategies analysed and suggested in the different studies, which does not always allow to compare or standardize the diagnosis or solutions.

Keywords: climate change; urban heat islands; cities-urban; health models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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