Spatial Evolution of the Effects of Urban Heat Island on Residents' Health

Abstract

Rising summer temperatures caused by the urban heat island (UHI) has considerable effects on the physical and mental health of urban residents globally. To categorize residents' health risk areas and evaluate the characteristics of urban spatial evolution, based on data analysis methods, such as ArcGIS, ENVI software, and geostatistical analysis, data from meteorological stations, satellite images, and electronic maps were used to investigate spatial evolution and the process by which UHI affects the respiratory, circulatory, and cardiovascular systems and emotional health of the residents of Tianjin. Results show the UHI significantly increases respiratory, circulatory, and cardiovascular diseases. The emotional health of residents is also significantly affected with the affected level moving from level 1 to level 2-4. Highly concentrated areas in the urban center and patches with high health risks are found to be scattered and fragmented, as indicated by the phased pattern of spatially deteriorating hotspots. Hotspots expansion occurs unidirectionally to the south, surrounding the city center, while shrinking from the inside to the outside. The study identifies urban health space risks and provides theoretical guidance for urban space optimization and healthy urban planning.

Study of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) Using Remote Sensing Data/Techniques: A Systematic Review

“…Biological risks [170], as the increase in mortality and heath [134,144], heat stress-related diseases (especially at night) [143], such as cardiovascular, respiratory, circulatory, emotional disorders [171], anxiety, sleep problems, and depression [142].…”

Analysis of the spatiotemporal mechanism of high temperature on residents’ irritability in Beijing based on multiscale geographically weighted regression model

“…Hence, based on Erikson Stages of Psychosocial Development (40-65 years old as Middle Adulthood), this study was targeted at middle-aged and elderly at and over 40 years old. Furthermore, our research team discovered that the negative emotions induced by thermal environment are mostly distress, irritability, nervousness, and hostility, with irritability the most obvious, thus this study decided on the negative emotion of irritability (Huang et al, 2020a).…”

Nature-Based Solutions for Cooling in High-Density Neighbourhoods in Shenzhen: A Case Study of Baishizhou

“…Accelerated urbanisation has resulted in a variety of issues such as high-rising buildings and aggravated urban heat islands (UHI), which directly threaten the deterioration of the environment for urban residents, becoming increasingly detrimental to the physical and psychological health of urban residents [1][2][3]. Therefore, it is imperative to develop effective strategies to address these issues.…”