Sustainable Cities and Society最新文献_第8页

Research on the construction and evaluation of urban emergency management capability index system from the perspective of digital intelligence empowerment 数字智能赋能视角下城市应急管理能力指标体系构建与评价研究

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-12 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107148

Fangming Cheng , Nannan Zhao , Chang Su , Di Wang , Xiaokun Chen

{"title":"Research on the construction and evaluation of urban emergency management capability index system from the perspective of digital intelligence empowerment","authors":"Fangming Cheng , Nannan Zhao , Chang Su , Di Wang , Xiaokun Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107148","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107148","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the connection and empowerment of digital intelligence technology to urban emergency management, the urban emergency management model is undergoing a process of reconstruction and transformation. However, there is currently a lack of scientific and effective capability evaluation systems and methods. This paper constructs an evaluation system comprising five first-level indicators—root-cause governance, risk prevention and control, emergency rescue and recovery, comprehensive support, and digital emergency capability—along with 14 secondary indicators and 45 tertiary indicators. It analyzes the scope of emergency management capabilities and pathways for digital intelligent empowerment. Employing an interval trapezoidal type-2 fuzzy and the matter-element extension cloud model to address subjective fuzziness, the paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation model for case analysis and improvement research. This framework and model provide support for building intelligent and agile emergency management systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107148"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039037","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}

引用次数: 0

Spatial patterns and climate adaptation mechanisms of street-house systems in Chongqing traditional settlements 重庆传统聚落街巷系统的空间格局与气候适应机制

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-11 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107150

Pengcheng Liu , Xu Li , Haitian Lu , Li Yan

{"title":"Spatial patterns and climate adaptation mechanisms of street-house systems in Chongqing traditional settlements","authors":"Pengcheng Liu , Xu Li , Haitian Lu , Li Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107150","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107150","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global warming and loss of regional cultural expression present dual challenges. A research gap persists: the passive, low-energy experience of traditional settlements remains untransformed into quantifiable design guidelines. This study focused on typical traditional settlements in Chongqing, China (a hot-summer and cold-winter region). It adopted an integrated \"street-house\" system perspective to analyse how spatial elements influence wind and thermal environmental performance, and distilled climate-adaptive spatial form characteristics and rules to provide operable guidance for climate-adaptive urban design. First, a literature review and field surveys identified the spatial elements for subsequent quantitative analysis. Second, the study used a combined approach of orthogonal/full factorial experiments and numerical simulations to quantify contribution rates, nonlinear relationships, and interaction effects of selected spatial elements on wind and thermal environmental performance, laying a foundation for spatial pattern formulation. Results indicated street orientation dominated the wind environment (contribution rates of 76.7% for street and 98.7% for building) and height-to-width ratio dominated the thermal environment (55.1% and 66.4% for street and building, respectively). Second-floor cantilevered balconies and eaves also significantly affected the thermal environment. The wind environment exhibited two significant interaction effects: street orientation × through-flow doors and windows, and street height-to-width ratio × eaves width. The thermal environment had no significant interaction effects. The study further analysed contradictory and synergistic characteristics of spatial morphological elements in climate adaptation, extracting patterns addressing summer and winter needs. These findings deepened understanding of climate adaptability in traditional settlements, and provided quantitative basis and pattern references for climate-adaptive urban planning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107150"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980777","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}

引用次数: 0

Discovering the causal mechanism of day-night extreme heat driven by 2D and 3D urban landscape changes: a case study of Wuhan, China 二维和三维城市景观变化驱动的昼夜极端高温成因机制研究——以武汉市为例

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-15 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107163

Yingqiang Zhong , Shaochun Li , Xinmeng Zhou , Xun Liang , Qingfeng Guan

{"title":"Discovering the causal mechanism of day-night extreme heat driven by 2D and 3D urban landscape changes: a case study of Wuhan, China","authors":"Yingqiang Zhong , Shaochun Li , Xinmeng Zhou , Xun Liang , Qingfeng Guan","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107163","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107163","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing frequency of extreme heat events poses serious challenges to public health and urban sustainability. Urban expansion is a key driver of extreme heat, yet the distinct mechanisms behind daytime and nighttime heat remain underexplored. This study proposes a multi-scale analytical framework to examine how 2D and 3D urban landscape changes influence extreme heat intensity (EHI), using both macro-scale (Spatial Difference-in-Differences) and finer-scale (Causal Forest) approaches. Two key findings emerge: 1) at the macro scale, urbanization significantly intensifies EHI, demonstrating its detrimental impact on thermal environments; 2) at the finer scale, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the landscape changes of building, impervious surface, cropland, and water bodies affect EHI in varied and localized ways. The results indicate the need for differentiated daytime and nighttime heat mitigation strategies, including enhancing blue-green infrastructure, optimizing urban landscape, and preserving cropland–water spatial balance to improve urban thermal resilience.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107163"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039038","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}

引用次数: 0

Enhancing urban flood resilience through agent-based modeling of evacuation behaviors 通过基于agent的疏散行为建模增强城市洪水抵御能力

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-07 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107133

Zeqian Jin , Yicheng Xiong , Chengcheng Yu , Chen Li , Zexin Jin , Xin Ye

{"title":"Enhancing urban flood resilience through agent-based modeling of evacuation behaviors","authors":"Zeqian Jin , Yicheng Xiong , Chengcheng Yu , Chen Li , Zexin Jin , Xin Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107133","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107133","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Flood disasters cause substantial casualties and economic losses, particularly in densely populated urban areas worldwide. Understanding public flood evacuation behavior is crucial for enhancing urban resilience and environmental sustainability. This study develops an agent-based modeling (ABM) to simulate evacuation behaviors of self-evacuees during predictable flood events. This model incorporates five submodules: population response, road network, shelter, flood propagation, and visualization. Based on protection motivation theory, we construct a structural equation model to examine the causal relationships among psychological attributes, which are then integrated into agents' characteristics within the ABM. Evacuees are classified as decision-makers and non-decision-makers, with the latter modeled using a Flocking behavior rule to capture their herd behavior. Four scenarios are designed to explore the impacts of different proportions of decision-makers and departure times (pre-disaster and post disaster) on fatality rates and evacuation efficiency. Conducted in Zhengzhou City, China, the model incorporates three evacuation modes (walking, bicycling, and vehicles) and three shelters (residential, commercial, and hotels). The results reveal that pre-disaster vehicle evacuation proves most effective, estimated to save 71,400 lives and extend the evacuation time by approximately 5 h. During post-disaster evacuation, walking evacuees exhibit the lowest fatality rates, indicating that walking should be the immediate emergency option when evacuation is forced after a disaster. A multi-intervention strategy combining pre-disaster evacuation and increasing the number of decision-makers achieves optimal performance, reducing the fatality rate by 20% compared to the baseline. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers in improving urban flood disaster management and reducing human casualties in similar contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107133"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980784","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}

引用次数: 0

Reducing CO2 emissions from short-distance vehicle trips: A pathway to sustainable urban transport 减少短途车辆出行的二氧化碳排放：通往可持续城市交通的途径

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-13 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107154

Shengnan Li , Pu Wang , Qi Liu , Ling Liu

{"title":"Reducing CO2 emissions from short-distance vehicle trips: A pathway to sustainable urban transport","authors":"Shengnan Li , Pu Wang , Qi Liu , Ling Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107154","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107154","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While existing works have extensively documented vehicle emission patterns, the carbon footprint of short-distance vehicle trips (SDTs) remains critically understudied. Here, we employ large-scale License Plate Recognition data from Changsha, China to systematically analyze the emission patterns, influential factors and emission reduction potentials of SDTs. Our analysis indicates that SDTs account for 27.31 % of urban vehicle trips, and the associated CO<sub>2</sub> emissions exhibit spatial agglomerations at specific urban areas. By leveraging an interpretable machine learning framework, we identify the land use, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics that exhibit a strong correlation with the volume of SDTs. This study emphasizes the potential to mitigate emissions induced by SDTs. It suggests that with the enhancement of public’s environmental awareness and the promotion of new energy vehicles, daily CO<sub>2</sub> emissions caused by SDTs could reduce 172 tons, which are equivalent to 1.23 % of the total CO<sub>2</sub> emissions of all small vehicles, providing valuable insights for developing sustainable urban transport.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107154"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039036","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}

引用次数: 0

To be integrated or not? Understanding continuance behavioral intention towards integrated ride-hailing services: Empirical evidence from Nanjing, China 整合还是不整合？理解对综合网约车服务的持续行为意向：来自中国南京的实证证据

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-14 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107159

Ke Lu , Jingfang Hu , Tingyu Shang , Yuan Xu

{"title":"To be integrated or not? Understanding continuance behavioral intention towards integrated ride-hailing services: Empirical evidence from Nanjing, China","authors":"Ke Lu , Jingfang Hu , Tingyu Shang , Yuan Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107159","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107159","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite explosive growth of integrated ride-hailing services (IRHS), the impact on long-term behavioral pattern has been little examined. This study intends to investigate travelers’ continuance behavioral intention towards IRHS, using a theoretical framework based on Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM). Moreover, four IRHS-specific feature variables are included, such as compatibility, hassle cost, convenience, and security. Further, this study introduces habit as moderating variable. Moreover, socio-demographic factors are considered as control variables, including gender, age, income, and educational level. With data collected from Nanjing, China, an empirical analysis is conducted using hybrid approach of Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The findings indicate that perceived usefulness, satisfaction, and expectation confirmation are key determinants. Noteworthily, perceived usefulness exhibits as more important than expectation confirmation. Further, it shows that all IRHS-specific features play crucial roles. Specifically, compatibility and hassle cost show stronger influence on expectation confirmation, while convenience and security affect more on perceived usefulness. Habit acts as a moderator within relationships between expectation confirmation and satisfaction, and satisfaction and continuance behavioral intention. Additionally, travelers’ continuance intention is negatively related to age and education level. These findings shed valuable insights for understanding the general pattern of travelers’ behavior, and add practical value for platforms and policymakers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107159"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039040","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}

引用次数: 0

Comprehensive benefits evaluation of the impact of vertical city on solar PV utilization for achieving smart sustainable cities 垂直城市对太阳能光伏利用影响的综合效益评价，实现智慧可持续城市

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-09 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107138

Siqi Lu , Heli Lu , Zhenchuang Wang , Huan Li , Zongran Han , Fang Liu , Changhong Miao , Xiaoye Zhang , Chuanrong Zhang

{"title":"Comprehensive benefits evaluation of the impact of vertical city on solar PV utilization for achieving smart sustainable cities","authors":"Siqi Lu , Heli Lu , Zhenchuang Wang , Huan Li , Zongran Han , Fang Liu , Changhong Miao , Xiaoye Zhang , Chuanrong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107138","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107138","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid development of urbanization has led to the vertical expansion of urban buildings, significantly impacting the potential for solar photovoltaic (PV) utilization. This study simulates the vertical development of urban structures using a machine learning random forest model and evaluates how changes in urban three-dimensional morphology affect the comprehensive benefits of solar PV utilization. The findings indicate that when the average height of a city increases by 12.08%, PV returns can rise by 39.91%, while electricity generation costs can decrease by 11.1%. Further analysis reveals that Class II urban blocks (mid-rise high-density) achieve the highest PV returns, which are 8.27 times greater than those of Class III urban blocks (high-rise low-density). Our research demonstrates that the urban three-dimensional morphology is closely linked to the potential for solar PV utilization. Designing rational urban three-dimensional morphology to maximize solar resource utilization is crucial to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11) targets for smart sustainable cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107138"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980779","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}

引用次数: 0

Breaking the isothermal assumption in CFD air quality modeling: Solar irradiance effects on the wind velocity-concentration relationship 打破CFD空气质量模拟中的等温假设：太阳辐照度对风速-浓度关系的影响

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-09 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107135

Nicolas Reiminger , Cédric Wemmert , Loïc Maurer , José Vazquez , Xavier Jurado

{"title":"Breaking the isothermal assumption in CFD air quality modeling: Solar irradiance effects on the wind velocity-concentration relationship","authors":"Nicolas Reiminger , Cédric Wemmert , Loïc Maurer , José Vazquez , Xavier Jurado","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107135","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107135","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how far solar irradiations modify the wind velocity–concentration relationship commonly used in isothermal computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of urban air quality. The main aim is to evaluate the validity under non-isothermal conditions of this widely used relationship and to provide new insights into the influence of solar-induced thermal effects on urban pollutant dispersion. While this relationship enables long-term concentration estimates through extrapolation from a limited set of simulations—thus offering strong operational advantages—its validity under non-isothermal conditions remains untested. Yet, recent regulatory changes and empirical evidence increasingly highlight the limitations of the isothermal assumption, especially in capturing short-term pollutant dynamics influenced by solar-driven thermal effects. To address this gap, a systematic CFD analysis of pollutant dispersion within an idealized 5 × 5 urban building array was conducted. This array was exposed to varying inlet wind velocities and solar irradiance levels, under fixed solar position and thermal boundary conditions. Results reveal that thermally induced flow structures can significantly modify pollutant dispersion patterns, particularly under low wind and high irradiance conditions. However, as mechanical forcing increases, flow fields and resulting pollutant concentration distributions tend to converge, reducing the impact of thermal perturbations. A comparative analysis of simulated pollutant fields and those recalculated using the isothermal wind velocity–concentration relationship shows that the reliability of this approach depends on the balance between thermal and mechanical forcing. Under favorable conditions—i.e., high wind, low solar irradiance—using this relationship remains robust. Conversely, under solar-dominated scenarios, it introduces significant errors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107135"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980943","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}

引用次数: 0

Co-optimization of expansion planning and dual-mode operations for regional integrated energy systems considering resilience enhancement under multiple uncertainties 多不确定条件下考虑弹性增强的区域综合能源系统扩容规划与双模式运行协同优化

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-14 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107124

Bo Jiang , Hongtao Lei , Wenhua Li , Kai Xu , Yajie Liu , Tao Zhang

{"title":"Co-optimization of expansion planning and dual-mode operations for regional integrated energy systems considering resilience enhancement under multiple uncertainties","authors":"Bo Jiang , Hongtao Lei , Wenhua Li , Kai Xu , Yajie Liu , Tao Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107124","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107124","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With rising energy demand and advances in energy conversion technologies, expansion planning for existing integrated energy systems is increasingly urgent, which is essential for improving efficiency and supply stability while reducing long-term costs. Additionally, the rising frequency of extreme disasters underscores the necessity of incorporating resilience alongside economic considerations in planning processes. To address these dual requirements of economic performance and resilience, this paper proposes a multi-objective two-stage stochastic programming model. In the first stage (planning stage), the model aims to minimize total costs while maximizing a standardized resilience index (RI) to determine the optimal expansion plan for the integrated energy system. In the second stage (operation stage), the model simulates both normal and fault modes to evaluate operational costs and RI values, feeding the results back to further improve the planning stage. Operational strategies aimed at either economic performance or resilience are developed for the two modes to effectively manage the model’s computational complexity. To efficiently solve the proposed multi-objective model, a diversity-enhanced evolutionary algorithm with a knowledge-guided offspring generation method (DeEA/K) is employed, yielding a uniformly distributed Pareto front. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve high-quality multi-objective expansion planning solutions, and the algorithm exhibits strong performance on mixed-integer optimization problems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107124"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980215","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}

引用次数: 0

Heat exposure and cooling efficiency of trees in a tropical hot-humid neighborhood with a park 带公园的热带湿热社区树木的热暴露和冷却效率

IF 12 1区工程技术

Sustainable Cities and Society Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-06 DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107122

Clément Nevers , Jan Carmeliet , Aytaç Kubilay , Dominique Derome

{"title":"Heat exposure and cooling efficiency of trees in a tropical hot-humid neighborhood with a park","authors":"Clément Nevers , Jan Carmeliet , Aytaç Kubilay , Dominique Derome","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107122","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107122","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As cities increasingly endure hotter conditions, there is a critical need for reliable metrics that capture the cumulative and perceptual nature of pedestrian heat exposure. This study develops an integrated approach combining high-resolution urban Computational Fluid Dynmics (CFD) simulations with two complementary indices: a cumulative Heat Exposure Index and a Cooling Efficiency Index that quantify the magnitude, duration, and spatial variability of human heat stress. The analysis is applied to a tropical hot-humid neighborhood that includes a park, street trees, and lift-up buildings. Heat exposure is defined as the cumulative thermal load exceeding a specified UTCI (Universal Thermal Climate Index) threshold over time, weighted by the Dynamic Thermal Sensation (DTS) to better represent human perception. Cooling efficiency is calculated as the ratio of heat exposure between a test configuration and a reference scenario. This framework enables evaluation of both local and non-local effects on pedestrian comfort. Results show that unshaded areas can reach daily exposures of 700 °C.h, while shaded zones under trees achieve up to 40% reduction, though localized heating up to 25% may occur downwind of dense canopies. Among individual heat mitigation strategies, larger, densely positioned trees, as in parks, are shown to be the most effective, while trees should be avoided in ventilation corridors. The heat exposure index is also used to assess walkability by calculating cumulative thermal stress along pedestrian routes. The proposed approach establishes a reproducible methodology for quantifying cooling efficiency of heat mitigation strategies and translating thermal data into design-relevant indicators.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107122"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145915140","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}

引用次数: 0