The effectiveness of urban green infrastructure in reducing surface urban heat island
Maryam F. Abdulateef, Hoda A. S. Al-Alwan
Abstract
In the era of the devastating impacts of climate change, many cities around the world make strenuous efforts to find suitable and sustainable adaptation strategies to address the climatic dangers. In the past decades, Baghdad city witnessed an increase in the intensity of surface urban heat island (SUHI) as a result of the change in land cover and population density. By reviewing the related literature, it was found that many studies discussed SUHI intensity and causes, yet there is limited knowledge concerning the adaptation to such a phenomenon. In general, urban green infrastructure (UGI) represents a vital sustainable strategy that can achieve climate change 'adaptation and mitigation' simultaneously. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of UGI in reducing SUHI in Baghdad city. Risafa municipality was selected as a case study, as it suffers from a high level of SUHI risk. Using a computer climatic simulation program; ENVI-met, the temperature of different surfaces in the study area was assessed, and two typical models were selected. Surface temperature (Ts) of different points in these two models was measured according to the base case scenario and to three proposed scenarios of UGI. The results show that UGI has an apparent role in declining Ts in both models. It was also found that the cooling effects of injecting UGI scenarios in similar surfaces of the two models are convergent. This confirms the UGI great effectiveness in reducing SUHI in Baghdad City. It is also found that the effectiveness of UGI in cooling the existing surfaces depends on the original condition of the surfaces and the intensity and types of the injected UGI assets.