Urban Heat Island

Dear Colleagues,

More than half of the people on the planet now live in cities. By 2050, the world is expected to add an additional 2.5 billion urban dwellers, with nearly 90 percent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. A great number of cities worldwide have experienced urbanization and have developed “urban heat islands” (UHI) of varying strengths depending the characteristics and operational patterns of the city concerned, as well as the construction materials. As a result, the thermal environment in cities degrades, thermal comfort decreases and energy consumption for cooling increases, whereas the resilience of the city to heat waves is negatively affected. In addition, UHIs have been indirectly related to climate change due to their contribution to the greenhouse effect and therefore to global warming.

This Special Issue will comprise a selection of papers addressing the Urban Heat Island. Research papers will focus on (1) the links between urbanization, urban climatic zones and the development of UHIs, (2) assessments on the presence and strength of UHIs in various world cities, (3) the links between land use/land cover and UHIs, (4) ecosystem services and UHI, (5) the impact of UHIs on air quality, thermal comfort and health in the cities concerned, (6) energy studies related to the presence of UHIs, (7) the use of remote sensing for the study of UHIs, (8) mitigation and adaptation techniques to counterbalance the impact of UHI including cool materials, urban green, and other innovations, (9) analysis of the influence of UHIs to climate change, and (10) the impact of UHI on energy poverty and urban vulnerability.

Prof. Dr. Constantinos Cartalis
Prof. Dr. Matheos Santamouris
Guest Editors

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