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Land
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Urban Heat Island Effects in Global Cities: Balancing Rapid Urbanization,...
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Urban Heat Island Effects in Global Cities: Balancing Rapid Urbanization, Land Surface Temperature Dynamics, and Sustainable Adaptation Strategies

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land–Climate Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 1897

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Liliia Hebryn Baidy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK
Interests: advanced remote sensing methodologies; machine-learning-based processing of satellite and aerial imagery; assessment of land use and land cover dynamics; analysis of land surface temperature and urban heat island effect
Prof. Dr. Gareth Rees

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK
Interests: spaceborne and UAV remote sensing for Arctic studies; hyperspectral imaging and ML-driven image analysis; mapping and monitoring Arctic land cover; assessing climate-driven changes in vegetated, glaciated, and built terrains; transdisciplinary Arctic land-use management and science diplomacy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban Heat Islands significantly influence urban environments worldwide, leading to increased temperatures compared to surrounding rural areas. Rapid urbanization, accompanied by extensive landuse and landcover changes, exacerbates Urban Heat Islands, impacting public health, environmental quality, and urban sustainability. As global cities continue to expand, understanding the dynamics of Land Surface Temperature becomes crucial for urban planners, environmental scientists, and policymakers to develop effective strategies to mitigate negative effects and ensure sustainable urban development. This research area has become increasingly important due to climate change and its amplified impacts in densely populated urban regions.

This Special Issue aims to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to give insights into the complex relationships between rapid urbanization, Land Surface Temperature dynamics, and sustainable adaptation strategies within urban settings. In line with the focus of the journal Land, this Special Issue emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches in urban planning, environmental science, remote sensing, geoinformatics, and policy formulation to support sustainable urban development and climate change adaptation.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  • Assessment and modelling of Urban Heat Island intensity using remote sensing and GIS techniques.
  • Evaluations of land use and land cover change impacts on land surface temperature and urban microclimates.
  • Sustainable urban design and planning strategies for mitigating Urban Heat Islands.
  • Integration of community participation and policy frameworks in adapting to increased urban temperatures.
  • Comparative case studies of Urban Heat Island across different geographic and climatic regions.
  • Review papers synthesizing current methodologies and approaches for assessing and mitigating Urban Heat Islands.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Liliia Hebryn Baidy
Prof. Dr. Gareth Rees
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • urban heat island
  • land surface temperature
  • urbanization
  • urban microclimate
  • land use/land cover change
  • remote sensing
  • geoinformatics
  • GIS modeling
  • sustainable adaptation strategies
  • climate change adaptation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 14068 KB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Patterns of the Evolution of the Urban Heat Island Effect and Population Heat Exposure Risks in Xi’an, One of China’s Megacities, from 2003 to 2023
by Zijie Li, Xinqi Wang, Haiyue Zhao and Xiaoming Xu
Land 2025, 14(10), 2021; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14102021 - 9 Oct 2025
Viewed by 461
Abstract
Under the dual pressure of rapid urbanization and global warming, the urban heat island (UHI) effect has been intensifying, accompanied by a continuous increase in heat exposure. As a typical example of rapid urbanization in China, Xi’an is facing severe challenges. However, previous [...] Read more.
Under the dual pressure of rapid urbanization and global warming, the urban heat island (UHI) effect has been intensifying, accompanied by a continuous increase in heat exposure. As a typical example of rapid urbanization in China, Xi’an is facing severe challenges. However, previous research on diurnal variations in long-term UHI effects and heat risks is insufficient. So, this study utilized the temperature level threshold method and the heat exposure risk assessment model to investigate the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of diurnal variations in the UHI and population heat exposure risks in Xi’an from 2003 to 2023. The results indicate that (1) over the past two decades, both the summer UHI intensity and the population heat exposure risks in Xi’an exhibited an overall intensifying trend, (2) spatial expansion followed a radial diffusion pattern centered on the urban core, with heat risk levels decreasing outward, (3) the nighttime expansion of high-level UHI zones and risk areas was slightly less than during the daytime, and (4) changes in the thermal environment often preceded population aggregation, indicating a lag effect in the evolution of heat exposure risks. This study deepened the understanding of the UHI and heat exposure for governments and planners and can help propose scientific UHI mitigation measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Heat Island Effects in Global Cities: Balancing Rapid Urbanization, Land Surface Temperature Dynamics, and Sustainable Adaptation Strategies)
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16 pages, 3674 KB  
Article
Constructing the Urban Landscape Through Heat Turbulence Fluxes as a Passive Form to Mitigate Urban Heat Islands
by Monica Ballinas, Sean Rodolfo S. Vilchis-Martínez, Adriana Lira-Oliver, Juan Gerardo Oliva Salinas and Victor L. Barradas
Land 2025, 14(10), 2013; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14102013 - 8 Oct 2025
Viewed by 447
Abstract
Urban microclimates depend on the city’s features, geographical position, climatic conditions, solar irradiance, and building materials. Many urban elements delay heat dissipation, giving rise to the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. (1) In Mexico City, UHIs occur mainly during the dry season (April–May) [...] Read more.
Urban microclimates depend on the city’s features, geographical position, climatic conditions, solar irradiance, and building materials. Many urban elements delay heat dissipation, giving rise to the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. (1) In Mexico City, UHIs occur mainly during the dry season (April–May) and likely increase in energy consumption in buildings. (2) Computational fluid dynamics models such as Ansys Fluent provide detailed flow field data related to atmospheric parameters and building surface fluctuations. With the data generated, a mitigation technique is proposed that displaces heat away from buildings, using air turbulence to actively cool them by examining the performance of w. (3) An experimental analysis was carried out to simulate thermal and aerodynamic scenarios throughout the day around three modules of different sizes, configurations, and albedo values. All modules showed a decrease in the difference between the building temperature and the air temperature, becoming colder with differences from −0.46 to −0.76 °C, while w presented values from −1.3 to 0.59 m·s−1, indicating some turbulence. (4) Therefore, it is necessary to consider mitigating UHIs in urban planning through efficient use of the properties and construction materials of each building and their arrangement in each block. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Heat Island Effects in Global Cities: Balancing Rapid Urbanization, Land Surface Temperature Dynamics, and Sustainable Adaptation Strategies)
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21 pages, 3245 KB  
Article
Exploring the Impact of Urban Characteristics on Diurnal Land Surface Temperature Based on LCZ and Machine Learning
by Xinyu Zhang and Jun Zhang
Land 2025, 14(9), 1813; https://doi.org/10.3390/land14091813 - 5 Sep 2025
Viewed by 586
Abstract
The urban heat island (UHI) effect has become a critical environmental issue affecting urban livability and public health, attracting widespread attention from both academia and society. Although numerous studies have examined the influence of urban characteristics on land surface temperature (LST), most have [...] Read more.
The urban heat island (UHI) effect has become a critical environmental issue affecting urban livability and public health, attracting widespread attention from both academia and society. Although numerous studies have examined the influence of urban characteristics on land surface temperature (LST), most have been restricted to single variables or single time points, and the traditional “urban–rural dichotomy” approach fails to capture intra-urban thermal heterogeneity. To address this limitation, this study integrates the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) framework with machine learning techniques to systematically analyze the diurnal variation patterns of LST across different LCZ types in Beijing and explore the interactive effects of urban characteristic variables on LST. The results show the following: (1) Compact building zones (LCZ 1–3) exhibit significantly higher daytime LST than open building zones (LCZ 4–6), with reduced differences at night; high-rise buildings cool daytime surfaces through shading but increase nighttime LST due to heat storage. (2) Blue–green space variables, such as NDVI and tree coverage (TPLAND), substantially lower daytime LST through evapotranspiration, but their nighttime cooling effect is weak; cropland coverage (CPLAND) plays a particularly important role in lowering nighttime LST. (3) Blue–green space and urban form variables exhibit significant interaction effects on LST, with contrasting impacts between day and night. (4) Population activity variables are strongly correlated with increased LST, especially at night, when their warming effects are more prominent. This study reveals the relative importance and nonlinear relationships of different variables across diurnal cycles, providing a scientific basis for optimizing blue–green space configuration, improving urban morphology, regulating human activity, and formulating effective UHI mitigation strategies to support the development of more sustainable urban environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Heat Island Effects in Global Cities: Balancing Rapid Urbanization, Land Surface Temperature Dynamics, and Sustainable Adaptation Strategies)
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