Urban greening archetypes at the European scale

Abstract

Urban greening has great ecological, social and economic benefits for the built environment. It also has significant impacts on the microclimate and urban energy balance. In this study, we quantify the impacts of urban greening on the ground surface temperatures and the microclimate (e.g. the air temperature and the wind speed variation) as well as the cooling demand at the European scale. Specific archetypes for seventeen European cities are generated based on each city's geometrical and statistical data. Additionally, several greening scenarios are proposed. The results show the positive effects of urban greening on mitigating rising ambient air temperatures, decreasing annual average ground-surface temperatures, and reducing the cooling demand, mostly in South European cities.