Optimizing peri-urban land cover configurations for multi-seasonal cooling: The cross-seasonal role of suburban parks

Abstract

Urban parks are recognized as nature-based solutions to mitigate urban heat island effects, but existing evidence is largely limited to urban cores and summer-only analysis. With severe spatial constraints in urban cores, suburban parks are increasingly prioritized for heat mitigation; yet, the cross-seasonal cooling efficacy and scale-dependent mechanisms of these peripheral green spaces remain critically underexplored. Unlike isolated urban parks, suburban parks are deeply embedded within a wider matrix of agricultural fields, natural vegetation, and wetlands, functioning as complex symbiotic systems. Targeting this gap, this study assesses the cross-seasonal cooling effects of 16 suburban parks and their surrounding land cover configurations in Hangzhou, China, using land surface temperature derived from single-year snapshots (based on meteorologically representative clear-sky observations) across four seasons in 2022. Four complementary indicators (cooling distance, area, intensity, and efficiency) were quantified to distinguish spatial extent from cooling strength. Spearman correlation analysis, Random Forest modeling, and K-means clustering were employed to identify dominant drivers and configuration-dependent patterns. The results show that suburban parks provided measurable cooling cross-seasonally, with peak intensity (mean 4.7 ± 1.5 °C) and spatial reach in summer. Cooling area increased consistently with park size, whereas cooling intensity and efficiency did not, indicating a non-linear scale–effect relationship. Surrounding land cover composition exerted stronger influence than park area alone, with driver importance shifting seasonally. Landscape typology analysis revealed that parks nested within farmland-dominated matrices maximized summer cooling, while heterogeneous water–farmland systems sustained more stable cooling across cooler seasons. While limited by the temporal constraints of specific clear-sky observations, these findings clarify seasonal variability, scale effects, and configuration-dependent cooling in suburban parks, providing actionable evidence for optimizing peri-urban green infrastructure within metropolitan thermal systems.