Spatially-heterogeneous impacts of surface characteristics on urban thermal environment, a case of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area

Ping Yu Fan, Kwok Pan Chun*, Ana Mijic, Daphne Ngar Yin Mah, Qing He, Byron Choi, Cho Kwong Charlie Lam, Omer Yetemen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

One-size-fits-all approach is common in climate-sensitive urban design due to neglecting spatial heterogeneities in urban form and urban climate. This study explores a spatially-varied climate-sensitive urban design based on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA). Three thermal indices, the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), the Apparent Temperature (AT), and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) are used to assess the outdoor thermal environments. The local climate zone (LCZ) classification system is used to map urban form including built and land-cover types. Moreover, incorporating spatial effects, geographically weighted regression (GWR) models are used to account for spatially-varied thermal variations due to urban form changes. Our findings indicate that the large low-rise type (LCZ 8) needs more attention in built-up planning for thermal mitigation, and urban low plants type (LCZ D) should be a more effective nature-based climate mitigation strategy compared with the water bodies (LCZ G). The GWR results show a stronger consistency between UTCI and LCZ 8 and LCZ D, compared with WBGT and AT. UTCI is thus suggested for application in future urban climate studies. More importantly, the spatially-varied relationship between UTCI and urban form specifies the strategies and appropriate locations for thermal mitigation in climate-sensitive urban design.

Original languageEnglish
Article number101034
JournalUrban Climate
Volume41
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

This research was supported by the Hong Kong Baptist University Faculty Research Grant (No. FRG1/17-18/044 and No. FRG1/16-17/034 ) and the Research Impact Fund (No. R2002-20F ) from the Hong Kong Research Grant Council (RGC) , and the 2232 International Fellowship for Outstanding Researchers Program of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) through grant 118C329 . This research was conducted using the resources of the High Performance Cluster Computing Centre, Hong Kong Baptist University, which receives funding from Research Grant Council, University Grant Committee of the HKSAR and Hong Kong Baptist University. Moreover, Mr Bolin Xu is acknowledged for his participation in research group discussions in the early stages of the manuscript.

FundersFunder number
Cluster Computing Centre
RGC
TUBITAK118C329
Hong Kong Baptist UniversityR2002-20F, FRG1/16-17/034, FRG1/17-18/044
Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee
Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştirma Kurumu

    Keywords

    • Geographically weighted regression model
    • Local climate zone
    • Thermal indices
    • Thermal mitigation strategies

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Spatially-heterogeneous impacts of surface characteristics on urban thermal environment, a case of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this