Sustainable Cities and Society最新文献

{"title":"Mapping geosystem services potential for urban climate resilience: A case study from Malmö, Sweden","authors":"Emrik Lundin-Frisk ,&nbsp;Paula Lindgren ,&nbsp;Olof Taromi Sandström ,&nbsp;Emanuel Toft ,&nbsp;Lorena Melgaço ,&nbsp;Fredrik Mossmark ,&nbsp;Tore Söderqvist ,&nbsp;Yevheniya Volchko ,&nbsp;Maria de Lourdes Melo Zurita ,&nbsp;Jenny Norrman","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107221","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107221","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban climate resilience planning often overlooks the subsurface, despite its potential to mitigate flooding, heat stress, and drought. To demonstrate these potentials, we developed thematic Geosystem Service (GS) maps for Malmö, Sweden, to support the integration of the subsurface into climate adaptation strategies. This study identifies GS relevant to the local context, proposes indicators for mapping these services, suggests a methodology for developing GS potential maps and tests the usability of these maps with municipal planners. Six GS related to the subsurface were identified: 1) regulation of coastal erosion, 2) extraction of heat and cold from the subsurface, 3) infiltration and retention of stormwater, 4) provision of subsurface space, 5) provision of groundwater, and 6) provision of construction materials. The findings indicate that GS potential mapping can reveal opportunities to utilise subsurface functions important for climate adaptation, but also show that this capacity is highly uneven across space and often constrained by land use, contamination risks, and technical or legal limitations. Usability testing with planners suggests that the developed GS potential maps may serve more effectively as communicative instruments than as direct planning tools. By illustrating how subsurface services can be systematically incorporated into planning, this research provides a foundation for enhancing the operability of GS in future climate adaptation practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"139 ","pages":"Article 107221"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating machine learning and interval fuzzy AHP for assessing metro station resilience to urban flooding","authors":"Wen He ,&nbsp;Yue Pan ,&nbsp;Shuo Zhang ,&nbsp;Guanlin Ye ,&nbsp;Jin-Jian Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107213","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107213","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Under the dual pressures of climate change and urbanization, increasing extreme rainfall events pose significant challenges to the operation and management of urban metro systems. This study develops a multi-source, phased resilience indicator system to describe key resilient characteristics of the metro network. A novel quantitative framework called PU-IFAHP-KMEANS is developed by integrating Positive-Unlabeled (PU) learning, Interval Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (IFAHP), and K-means clustering, aiming to comprehensively assess metro station resilience under extreme rainfall conditions. The proposed PU-IFAHP-KMEANS is applied to the Shanghai metro network, evaluating resilience across three dimensions: pre-disaster flood risk prediction, vulnerability during disasters, and post-disaster recovery. By combining these three dimensions, the resilience levels of metro stations to flood disasters can be precisely quantified and visualized through Geographic Information System (GIS). Several key findings are revealed: (i) High-resilience metro stations are typically located in the suburbs of Shanghai, while low-resilience stations are mostly concentrated in the downtown areas; and (ii) Key factors such as Point of Interest (POI) density, maximum hourly rainfall, and betweenness centrality significantly impact resilience levels. Moreover, comparative experiments demonstrate that PU-IFAHP-KMEANS reduces subjectivity and uncertainty from expert input while demonstrating strong adaptability to varying rainfall scenarios. Practically, PU-IFAHP-KMEANS offers practical utility in identifying at-risk stations and enhancing targeted flood mitigation and emergency response strategies, thereby advancing the resilience of metro systems in the face of intensifying climatic extremes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"139 ","pages":"Article 107213"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192883","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatiotemporal evolution and influencing factors of urban flood resilience in the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration","authors":"Huifang Sun ,&nbsp;Rujie Chen ,&nbsp;Wenxin Mao ,&nbsp;Dang Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107218","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107218","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rapid urbanization and climate change have exacerbated urban flooding, thereby positioning urban flood resilience as a critical component of sustainable social development. This study develops an evaluation indicator system for urban flood resilience grounded in the dimensions of resistance, emergency response, recovery, and adaptation. Using the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration as a case study, this paper examines the spatiotemporal evolution, influencing factors, and dynamic transition characteristics of flood resilience from 2003 to 2023. The analysis employs a combined methodological framework incorporating the standard deviation ellipse, geographic detector, geographically and temporally weighted regression, and spatial Markov chain models. The results indicate that: (1) The flood resilience in Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration exhibits a distinct core-periphery spatial pattern. While the overall level of resilience increased steadily between 2003 and 2023, inter-city disparities widened significantly. (2) The interactions among economic, infrastructural, and ecological factors have progressively intensified, with influencing factors demonstrating nonlinear synergistic effects. (3) The urban flood resilience centroid has gradually shifted toward cities with advanced infrastructure, and the spatial evolution exhibits phased characteristics defined by “core-driven growth, spatial expansion, and directional adjustment.” (4) The per capita investment in urban public facilities generates positive spillover effects that enhance the resilience of neighboring cities; conversely, the proportion of the high-risk population acts as a negative constraint, exacerbating regional vulnerability. (5) The evolution of urban flood resilience exhibits path dependence and a bottleneck effect of high-level transitions. Optimizing the resilience structure is most effectively driven by an integrated engineering-ecological pathway. This study provides a theoretical basis and practical guidance for flood risk governance and the enhancement of spatial resilience in urban agglomerations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"139 ","pages":"Article 107218"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146147120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beat the heat: Hotspots for nature-based solutions in Vienna and Budapest","authors":"Alice Wanner ,&nbsp;Bakul Budhiraja ,&nbsp;Jennifer McKinley ,&nbsp;Meike Jungnickel","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107219","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107219","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As populations in cities continue to grow, residents face increasing climate change related impacts. These impacts vary across neighbourhoods and districts in the city, often depending on the built environment and access to green spaces. Historic cities such as Vienna and Budapest illustrate the challenges which cultural heritage and development of the late 19th century pose for heat reduction in city centres. Rising frequency of heat waves in central Europe, the resultant urban heat island effect and tropical nights negatively affect health and well-being. Nature-based solutions are possible measures to tackle these issues. Based on the cities of Vienna and Budapest, this study combines urban heat modelling with results from a discrete choice experiment to identify where residents in each city are more affected by heat, the most vulnerable communities and how residents in each city perceive their situation. The results indicate that heat negatively affects the health and well-being of all, but respondents from Budapest are more pronounced in their experiences and perceptions, especially those living in urban districts and city centres. Residents underestimate experienced heat compared to the no of heat days recorded through meteorological stations. With these results, it becomes clear that local solutions are needed which reflect residents’ needs to benefit people and city, along with reducing urban heat island effects. ​For urban planners, the results translate into setting clear planning priorities and goals specific to their residents’ needs. Nature-based solutions targeting heat reduction should be placed in neighbourhood types which demonstrate high heat perception based on social analysis and heat modelling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"139 ","pages":"Article 107219"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Institutionalizing urban agriculture in urban sustainability: A nexus framework and indicator compatibility assessment","authors":"Jie Zheng ,&nbsp;Qing Gong ,&nbsp;Xiuxiu Gao ,&nbsp;Yan Jiao ,&nbsp;Wei Zhang ,&nbsp;Yukun Zhang ,&nbsp;Hengyu Li ,&nbsp;Ziyu Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107137","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107137","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban agriculture (UA) delivers multifunctional benefits, yet its contributions remain marginally incorporated into the planning and evaluation systems that guide sustainable urban development (SUD). This disconnect persists because contribution aims, measurement practices, and contextual conditions are often considered separately, leaving much of UA’s value only partially visible to governance systems and therefore inconsistently supported. To address this gap, we develop an integrated analytical architecture that links indicator translation and contextualized outcome interpretation.</div><div>Drawing on a systematic review of 139 studies and expert-validated mapping, we evaluate 40 UA indicators against 234 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators using unified diagnostic criteria. Nearly 80 % of contributions fall outside the category of immediate alignment, requiring either methodological adaptation or expansion of current monitoring frameworks. The UA–SUD Nexus framework then explains why similar interventions yield divergent outcomes across contexts by showing how goals, measurement strategies, and enabling conditions co-evolve through adaptive feedback.</div><div>These insights inform context-aligned implementation conditions rather than universal intervention sequences. For example, where land tenure security is weak, governance stabilization must precede infrastructure investment to avoid misaligned or short-lived outcomes. By joining compatibility assessment with a mechanism-based explanatory framework, this approach provides a coherent basis for institutionalizing UA within urban sustainability planning, enabling its socio-ecological value to be more systematically recognized, measured, and governed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"139 ","pages":"Article 107137"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microclimatic impacts of building projects on the local neighborhood: criteria for well-founded urban planning","authors":"Martin Schneider,&nbsp;Tanja Tötzer,&nbsp;Marianne Bügelmayer-Blaschek","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107215","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107215","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>City administration is struggling with steering urban development into a climate resilient direction and needs supportive guidelines for informed decision-making. The results of this research present a planning criteria catalogue to identify microclimate-sensitive development projects to the surrounding area. It provides selected parameters and thresholds characterizing construction projects to request spatially extended microclimatic evaluations based on changes of expected spatial extension and intensity of 2 m air temperature in the surrounding area. To quantify the impact of project characteristics on this evaluation metric in the neighborhood, 50 experiments were conducted for inner-city and periphery domains using the urban climate model PALM with varying static input parameters including area size, building height, and Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classifications representing different building densities and soil sealing patterns. The resulting impacts are evaluated in a distance of 50-100 meters from construction sites. Development projects in an LCZ compact style, showed air temperature increases of up to 1.5°C during evening hours in an inner-city domain. LCZ open configurations caused slightly higher temperatures during the night and morning hours of up to 0.7°C. For a periphery domain, LCZ open did not show any notable impact on the surroundings, while LCZ large low-rise caused persistent temperature increases peaking at 1.5°C in evening hours. Based on these findings, a practical catalogue of criteria was developed to guide authorities in determining when spatially extended microclimate analyses (including the potentially affected neighborhood) should be required or recommended. The study suggests extended assessments when air temperature changes exceed 1°C in surrounding areas during any time during the day, which is particularly the case for compact and large low-rise built environments. This quantitative framework guides authorities to decide in which cases a climate simulation is recommended or required for the assessment of projects with potential significant microclimatic impacts on neighborhoods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"139 ","pages":"Article 107215"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146192885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatiotemporal dynamics and multidimensional drivers of urban diurnal temperature range: Evidence from integrated learning at the national scale in China","authors":"Tao Wu ,&nbsp;Shujie Yang ,&nbsp;Jingkai Zhao ,&nbsp;Ruhang Wei ,&nbsp;Siying Li ,&nbsp;Zeyin Chen ,&nbsp;Renlu Qiao ,&nbsp;Zhiqiang Wu ,&nbsp;Shiqi Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107202","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107202","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urbanization and global warming are profoundly altering the diurnal temperature range (DTR), a key indicator of climate change with direct implications for public health and urban resilience. Yet, systematic evidence disentangling DTR dynamics across climatic zones at the national scale remains scarce. Using 1 km resolution MODIS LST data for China (2010–2020), this study integrates spatiotemporal trend analysis with explainable machine learning to characterize national DTR patterns and identify their heterogeneous drivers. The results show that: (1) daytime surface warming (+0.013 °C yr⁻¹) has outpaced nighttime warming (+0.008 °C yr⁻¹), leading to an overall slight increase in DTR, with the trend most pronounced in the warm temperate zone; (2) natural systems exert the strongest influence (42.1 %), with proximity to water bodies acting as the most critical regulator—reducing DTR by 2–3 °C within 5 km—while vegetation effects are strongly climate-dependent; (3) urban physical morphology exerts dual impacts, as high built-up density generally amplifies DTR, whereas taller buildings mitigate it by enhancing ventilation; and (4) socioeconomic factors overall moderate DTR, with population density showing the most consistent effect, while nighttime light intensity anomalously amplifies DTR in humid regions. By systematically revealing the climatic heterogeneity of DTR drivers, this study underscores the pivotal role of water bodies and urban form in regulating urban heat. The findings provide a scientific basis for context-specific nature-based solutions and resilience-oriented planning strategies to mitigate thermal risks under accelerating climate change and urbanization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"139 ","pages":"Article 107202"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146147119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urbanization and Thermal Vulnerability: Spatio-Temporal Assessment in a Mediterranean City","authors":"Nessrine Ben Haj Ncir ,&nbsp;Asma Rejeb ,&nbsp;Christophe Claramunt","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107311","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107311","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mediterranean cities are undergoing rapid urban expansion that disrupts surface energy balances and amplifies land surface temperature (LST) patterns, intensifying the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Despite extensive UHI research, long-term, morphology-sensitive assessments that explicitly link peri-urban industrial expansion and wetland degradation to thermal vulnerability remain limited in North African Mediterranean cities. Our study investigates four decades (1984–2024) of urbanization and thermal change in Sidi Hassine, Tunisia, using a multi-scale analytical approach that combines multi-temporal Landsat imagery, vegetation and thermal indices (NDVI, LST, UHI), and spatial hotspot analysis implemented within ArcGIS Pro and Google Earth Engine. The findings show that mean LST increased from 39.7°C to 42.5°C, while built-up areas more than doubled, largely at the expense of agricultural land and wetlands. Vegetation cover declined by approximately 13%, reflecting progressive ecological degradation associated with expanding impervious surfaces.</div><div>To complement this long-term assessment, the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) framework was applied to the 2024 urban configuration to capture current morphological and functional drivers of surface heating. Industrial (LCZ 10) and dense mixed-use (LCZ 8) sectors exhibited the highest thermal anomalies, with temperature contrasts exceeding 5°C relative to vegetated and water-related zones. The Sebkha Sijoumi wetland, once a key climatic regulator, has progressively lost its cooling capacity due to hydrological disturbance and urban encroachment.</div><div>By coupling multi-decadal satellite observations with LCZ-based spatial diagnostics, this study a transferable diagnostic framework that bridges multi-scale thermal assessment and urban planning practice.. The results offer direct guidance for integrating heat-sensitive zoning, industrial land-use regulation, wetland buffer protection, and targeted greening requirements into statutory planning instruments such as Urban Development Plans (PAU) and Detailed Development Plans (PAD), thereby supporting climate-resilient urban development in rapidly expanding Mediterranean cities.</div><div>This combined methodological and policy-oriented framework offers a transferable basis for managing urban thermal risk in rapidly urbanizing Mediterranean environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"142 ","pages":"Article 107311"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147551375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantifying the cooling effects of multi-scale urban blue-green spaces on surrounding local climate zones in hot and humid climatic areas","authors":"Lin Liu ,&nbsp;Yilin Wang ,&nbsp;Xin Feng ,&nbsp;Mengxiao Yu ,&nbsp;Hua Yuan ,&nbsp;Jian Hang","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107292","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107292","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban blue-green spaces (UBGS) are widely known for mitigating urban overheating through their evapotranspiration and shading effects. This study integrates multi-source data, including remote sensing imagery and land cover, to identify 1,294 UBGS blocks of varying scales in Guangzhou, along with their characteristic parameters. Field measurements, combined with the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) framework, derived cooling effect parameters for 6,230 blocks. Results indicate that northern vegetation-dominated areas exhibit average <em>NDVI</em> values of 0.6∼0.8, whilst the highly urbanised central regions show higher <em>ET</em> values ranging from 0.6 to 1.0. The LCZ-based air temperature inversion models demonstrate considerable accuracy, and air temperature distribution maps reveal that UBGS present an average of 4.2°C lower than built-up areas in August. Correlation analysis of cooling effect parameters and LCZ types indicates that LCZ 5 exhibits a cooling intensity of 3∼7°C, whilst LCZ G demonstrates a cooling distance exceeding 600 metres. Through random forest regression, SHAP interpretation, and NSGA-II multi-objective optimisation, the cooling effects of UBGS are systematically quantified. Key influencing parameters are clarified: <em>WAR</em> and <em>NDVI</em> exert significant positive effects on <em>CI</em> and <em>CD</em>, while <em>HR</em> exhibits negative effects, and their optimal configuration ranges are obtained (<em>WAR</em> 0.04∼0.82, <em>GAR</em> 0.05∼0.83, <em>FVC</em> 0.02∼0.37, <em>HR</em> 0.06∼0.12, <em>PA</em> 246∼443, <em>S_UBGS</em> 11.2∼132hm²). The developed multi-scale UBGS-LCZ optimization framework of this study contributes to revealing parameterized cooling mechanism of UBGS on surrounding LCZs and helps guide UBGS optimization design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"141 ","pages":"Article 107292"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147451615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analyzing the impact of urban morphology on urban land surface temperature from the perspective of spatial configuration and explainable machine learning: A case study of seven cities","authors":"Bo Wan,&nbsp;Ningjie Shen,&nbsp;Haijian Zhang,&nbsp;Qiang Sheng","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107165","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107165","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urbanization has led to frequent heatwaves and urban heat islands (UHIs). While the impact of building density and other factors on land surface temperature (LST) has been studied, the mechanisms of spatial configuration remain unclear. We conducted a comparative study across seven cities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Zhengzhou and Changsha), integrating summer LST data with multidimensional morphological indicators. We applied both linear and machine learning models, and used SHAP (Shapley Additive exPlanations) to interpret the contribution and thresholds of variables. The results show that incorporating spatial configuration significantly improves explanatory power, and machine learning outperforms linear models. High-intensity development generally increases LST, while vegetation and mixed land use reduce LST, both exhibiting threshold effects: tree canopy cover beyond approximately 15% shows diminishing marginal cooling effects, and proximity to water bodies within 300 meters creates significant cooling (cold island) effects. Spatial configuration has a critical and nonlinear influence on LST, offering an evidence base for multidimensional, synergistic heat island mitigation and urban planning decisions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 107165"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146080597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}