The study of effects of greenery on temperature reduction in urban areas

Abstract

Urban landscape is largely characterized by high degree of built space, high share of artificial surface material and the reduction of green areas, which leads to changes in the microclimate and the deterioration of thermal comfort in out-door urban space. One of the most important roles of urban greenery is the impact on the reduction of air temperature due to less heating of green space com-pared to paved surfaces and due to tree shading. The paper analyses the influence of urban greenery on temperature reduction. Aim of the study was to measure the difference in warming up of grassy surfaces and paving materials commonly used for public areas and to evaluate the impact of tree shading on the surface cooling during the day. For this purpose, measuring of surface temperatures was performed during the summer months in 2015 in the central city zone of the city of Nis. The measuring included: grass, asphalt as most commonly used paving material, and concrete tiles commonly used for pedestrian areas. Results show the temperature of grass is significantly lower than the temperature of paved surface at any time of day. In the case of paved surfaces, temperature of shaded or partially shaded material is lower than the temperature of surface exposed to sunlight during the whole day, a temperature difference exists even after nocturnal cooling. The results indicate the importance of green areas for cooling of urban spaces, due to their lower warming and surface shading from tree canopy.