Microclimate Development in Urban Spaces

Dear colleagues,

The current level of population growth, together with global or regional warming, has caused important changes in the different land covers and uses and a considerable increase in temperatures, especially in urban spaces. Urban areas are more vulnerable to climate change due to the additive effect of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon that makes cities warmer than surrounding rural sites. Added to this circumstance is that atmospheric emissions and extreme climate phenomena (heat waves, extreme temperatures) have increased significantly, while at the same time they are affecting environmental quality and impacting the health of the population. Urban forests were considered the important part of urban eco-system, which can reduce urban high temperatures and heatwaves through shading and evapotranspiration. All of this, and within urban spaces, is generating the development of microclimates that need to be analyzed and investigated in order to provide important information on the development of future urban areas or the reorganization of current ones that allows improving people's quality of life. It is estimated that, in the next 25 years, 70% of the world's population will be located in these areas, which is why their analysis and study is of great importance in order to establish measures that will improve the resilience of these areas against the effects of the climate change.

Studies may address, among others, the following topics:

(1) Analysis and evaluation of urban forest microclimates and their relationship (synergy analysis) with the following elements: Environmental temperatures, land surface temperature, urban morphology, environmental pollution, population density, traffic, changes in coverage or changes in the land use, vegetation and green areas structure.

(2) Mitigation and resilience mitigation to high temperatures and heat wave by urban forests in order to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants.

(3) Forecast of the changes of the cooling potentials of  urban forests in the coming decades

Dr. David Hidalgo García
Dr. Dimitra Founda
Guest Editors

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