Construction of a cold island network for the urban heat island effect mitigation

Fan Liu; Jing Liu; Yanqin Zhang; Shaoping Hong; Weicong Fu; Minhua Wang; Jianwen Dong

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.169950

Construction of a cold island network for the urban heat island effect mitigation

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Mar 10:915:169950. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.169950. Epub 2024 Jan 9.

Authors

Fan Liu¹, Jing Liu¹, Yanqin Zhang¹, Shaoping Hong², Weicong Fu¹, Minhua Wang¹, Jianwen Dong³

Affiliations

¹ College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350100, China; Engineering Research Center for Forest Park of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Fuzhou 350002, China.
² School of Architecture and Urban-Rural Planning, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China.
³ College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350100, China; Engineering Research Center for Forest Park of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Fuzhou 350002, China. Electronic address: fjdjw@fafu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38199340
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.169950

Abstract

The urban heat island (UHI) effect seriously challenges sustainable urban development strategies and livability. Numerous studies have explored the UHI problem from the perspective of isolated blue and green patches, ignoring the overall function of cold island networks. This study aims to explore the construction method of cold island network by integrating scattered cold island resources, rationally guiding urban planning and construction, and providing effective ideas and methods for improving the urban thermal environment. Taking the central city of Fuzhou as an example, the identification of the cold island core source (CICS) was optimized by applying relative land surface temperature (LST), morphological spatial pattern analysis, and landscape connectivity analysis. The combined resistance surface was constructed based on a spatial principal component analysis. Subsequently, the cold island network was constructed by applying circuit theory and identifying the key nodes. The results showed that the central and eastern parts of the study area experienced the most significant UHI effects and there was a tendency for them to cluster. Overall, 48 core sources, 104 corridors, 89 cooling nodes, and 34 heating nodes were identified. The average LST of the CICSs was 28.43 °C, significantly lower than the average LST of the entire study area (31.50 °C), and the 104 cold corridors were classified into three categories according to their importance. Different targeting measures should be adopted for the cooling and heating nodes to maintain the stability of the cold island network and prevent the formation of a heat network. Finally, we suggest a model for urban cold island network construction and explore methods for mitigating issues with UHI to achieve proactive and organized adaptation and mitigation of thermal environmental risks in urban areas, as well as to encourage sustainable urban development.

Keywords: Circuit theory; Cold island network construction; Connectivity; Morphological spatial pattern analysis; Urban heat island.