Assessment of urban blue-green space cooling effect linking maximum and accumulative perspectives in the Yangtze River Delta, China.

ABSTRACT

The development of urban blue-green spaces is highly recommended as a nature-based solution for mitigating the urban heat island phenomenon, improving urban sustainability, and enhancing resident well-being. However, limited attention has been given to the accumulative impact of the cooling effect and the comparison of different types of landscapes. Based on the maximum and accumulative perspectives, this study selected 375 green spaces, water bodies, and urban parks in 25 cities of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in China to quantify their cooling effect. Correlation and regression analyses were employed to identify the dominant factors influencing the cooling performance. The results indicated that (1) compared to other landscape patches, water areas, and parks exhibited a reduction in daily average air temperature by 3.04 and 0.57 °C, respectively. Urban parks provided the largest cooling area (CA) of 56.44 ha in the YRD region, while water bodies demonstrated the highest cooling effect (CE) of 6.88, cooling intensity (CI) of 0.02, and cooling gradient (CG) of 0.99. (2) From the maximum perspective, the perimeter of the patches played a dominant role in CA and CE for all landscape patch types, contributing more than 40% in CA variation. (3) The dominant factors varied among different landscape types from accumulative perspectives. Green spaces were influenced by road density, shape index, and the proportion of water bodies within the CA, whereas water bodies were primarily affected by the coverage of blue spaces. Vegetation growth and densely populated surroundings contributed the most to the cooling of parks. These findings enhanced the comprehension of the cooling effect in comparable urban contexts and provided valuable insights for sustainable urban management.