Bachelor thesis | Liberal Arts and Sciences: Global Challenges (LUC) (BA/BSc)
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Over the next century, effects of climate change are expected to increase. Especially in cities, with high population densities, these effects can be magnified. Two of the most pressing issues in...Show moreOver the next century, effects of climate change are expected to increase. Especially in cities, with high population densities, these effects can be magnified. Two of the most pressing issues in cities are: 1) increasing temperatures and the urban heat island effect, resulting in thermal discomfort for citizens and thermal stress on the environment and 2) biodiversity loss, due to urbanisation, which fragments natural habitat and disrupts ecosystems. Key to mitigating these issue in cities are greenspaces, which can cool temperatures and support biodiversity. This paper examines how spatial characteristics of tree-based greenspaces affect cooling, and relates this to ecological connectivity, using The Hague as a case study. A preliminary spatial data analysis of the greenspace cooling effect was done using remote sensing based on Landsat satellite imagery using a Geographic Information System, and further analysed with multivariate regression. The analysis of connectivity was done using Fragstats software. The results indicated that the Greenspace Cooling Island effect does occur in The Hague and that the area of the greenspace, area-perimeter ratio of the nearest neighbouring greenspace and the distance to the nearest neighbouring greenspace can explain the temperature reduction (TA). The cooling range (GR) could not be explained by any of the spatial characteristics. Regarding connectivity, street trees exhibited a higher degree of connectivity, whereas forest was more aggregated. Together, this suggests that smaller, closer tree-based greenspaces can lead to more temperature reduction in a city, but that enlarging greenspaces can also have a similar same effect. The findings of this research form a first step for the assessment of GCI in Dutch cities and can be build upon for further research that can be applied to urban planning to develop greenspaces in cities in the face of climate change.Show less
