How Solutions in The Built Environment Can Mitigate the Urban Heat Island Effect in Dense Cities: Examining Nature-Inclusive and Technical Urban Design Options for The Hague

Cities are expanding and becoming denser resulting in an imbalance of radiation, heat, water, and vegetation present in cities causing a typical urban climate that is warmer than its surrounding areas – also known as the Urban Heat Island Effect. The increase in temperature causes the human body to experience thermal discomfort. Heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems minimise the impact of thermal stresses indoors, however, these kinds of systems cause a significant rise in energy consumption and anthropogenic waste heat, resulting in even more pressure on the human body and increasingly rising temperatures in the city. Solutions to mitigate the UHI phenomenon often include large-scale implementation of green-blue structures, however, in dense cities, this is not always possible. Smaller-scaled nature-inclusive and technical solutions that can be implemented at the dimension of individual buildings will be investigated such as cool roofs, green roofs, and underground...Show moreCities are expanding and becoming denser resulting in an imbalance of radiation, heat, water, and vegetation present in cities causing a typical urban climate that is warmer than its surrounding areas – also known as the Urban Heat Island Effect. The increase in temperature causes the human body to experience thermal discomfort. Heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems minimise the impact of thermal stresses indoors, however, these kinds of systems cause a significant rise in energy consumption and anthropogenic waste heat, resulting in even more pressure on the human body and increasingly rising temperatures in the city. Solutions to mitigate the UHI phenomenon often include large-scale implementation of green-blue structures, however, in dense cities, this is not always possible. Smaller-scaled nature-inclusive and technical solutions that can be implemented at the dimension of individual buildings will be investigated such as cool roofs, green roofs, and underground thermal energy storage. Green, vegetated, roofs appear to be an excellent small-scale solution. The physiological equivalent temperature (PET) of the ten hottest and ten coolest neighbourhoods in The Hague are analysed for the presence of green roofs and roof surface area. Moreover, additional neighbourhood characteristics such as the presence of vegetation in the surroundings and income levels are collected to investigate the suitability of green roof implementation. Based on a statistical analysis there can be concluded that the neighbourhoods experiencing the highest heat stress are the neighbourhoods with the lowest level of green roof coverage while having the highest amount of roof surface area at their disposal. Considering the lower levels of vegetation present and the relatively lower average income in these neighbourhoods, the implementation of green roofs seems an excellent strategy to mitigate the UHI effect in The Hague and dense city neighbourhoods with similar characteristics.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

How Solutions in The Built Environment Can Mitigate the Urban Heat Island Effect in Dense Cities: Examining Nature-Inclusive and Technical Urban Design Options for The Hague