Urban design guidelines to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) effects in hot-dry cities

Abstract

Global warming and undeniable climatic change in the world have led to decreasing thermal comfort for humans. Urban heat island (UHI) is the most documented phenomenon which has led to the increasing temperature in urban areas. It has received much focus in the past few decades to evaluate the main effective criteria of UHI. Street heat has negative effects on human health and will only worsen in future; these negative effects would double in hot and dry urban area. This paper investigates the effects of UHI in these cities and illustrates the important factors which make them extremely hot. The outcome of this study can be used to determine the key guidelines for urban designers, urban planners, architects and landscape designers to recline the UHI impressions in urban areas and make more thermal comfort for Burgher.