Using Watered Landscapes to Manipulate Urban Heat Island Effects

The prospect that urban heat island (UHI) effects and climate change may increase urban temperatures is a problem for cities that actively promote urban redevelopment and higher densities. One possible UHI mitigation strategy is to plant more trees and other irrigated vegetation to prevent daytime h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Planning Association 2010-01, Vol.76 (1), p.109
Main Authors: Gober, Patricia, Brazel, Anthony, Quay, Ray, Myint, Soe, Grossman-Clarke, Susanne, Miller, Adam, Rossi, Steve
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Censuses
Cities
Climate change
Cooling
Impact analysis
Irrigation
Radiation
Studies
Sustainability
Temperature
Temperature effects
Trees
Urban development
Urban heat islands
Urban planning
Vegetation
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The prospect that urban heat island (UHI) effects and climate change may increase urban temperatures is a problem for cities that actively promote urban redevelopment and higher densities. One possible UHI mitigation strategy is to plant more trees and other irrigated vegetation to prevent daytime heat storage and facilitate nighttime cooling, but this requires water resources that are limited in a desert city like Phoenix. The authors investigated the tradeoffs between water use and nighttime cooling inherent in urban form and land use choices. The authors used a Local-Scale Urban Meteorological Parameterization Scheme (LUMPS) model to examine the variation in temperature and evaporation in 10 census tracts in Phoenix's urban core. They found that increasing irrigated landscaping lowers nighttime temperatures, but this relationship is not linear; the greatest reductions occur in the least vegetated neighborhoods. There is no one design and landscape plan capable of addressing increasing UHI and climate effects everywhere.
ISSN:0194-4363
1939-0130