IN-PERSON: Livable Cities – New York

Abstract

Increasing temperatures due to climate change and human activities lead to health burdens and an increasing rate of mortality. As seen with the extreme heat events of 2022 urban environments are currently at particular risk and cities must act in order to enhance heat resilience. Several studies to date have targeted the city scale to propose beneficial recommendations on heat mitigating strategies; however, however, variations at neighbourhood scale are still an emerging area of interest. In addition, the impacts of urban heat and its deriving effects may vary based on the size and proportion of green infrastructure, and entire urban form in different cities. In this study, we bridge the connection between cities by highlighting the urban forms of cities in the United Kingdom and Taiwan. This paper reviews and compares city plans and land surface temperature signatures across a range of urban development and climatic contexts, covering Glasgow (temperate, industrial), Taipei (dense subtropical), Milton Keynes (temperate, planned new town), and Cambridge (temperate smaller city). By referring to the spatial distribution of heat patterns and green spaces, it is found that city parks in dense urban areas bring a more significant effect on heat mitigation, whereas high population density along the Glasgow riverside makes the buffer of blue infrastructures less effectual. The outcome of this study will inform the further use of satellite data in mapping urban greening and heat patterns from the perspective of different urban forms and building densities.