THE POSSIBILITIES OF DECREASING THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND

Abstract

The urban heat island phenomenon is one of the greatest challenges of the present days regarding the sustainability of our cities and settlements. A great amount of research has already been completed considering the urban heat island, with a significant part of them based on the utilization of remote sensing. The results show that in the case of the densely built-up areas of Hungary the maximal intensity of the urban heat island can be experienced in the industrial areas and in the extremely densely built-up zones, while water bodies and surfaces covered by vegetation proved to be the coolest zones under all circumstances. Thus, according to the results only water and green surfaces are capable of effectively reducing the urban heat island. Firstly, urban green surfaces and water bodies must be created to become capable of decreasing the urban heat island to the maximal extent. Secondly, it is possible to maximize the rate of green and water coverage within settlements only with the tools of urban planning. Thus it is essential in the case of urban planning to implement the existing regulation tools to prevent or minimize the further intensifying of the urban heat island.