The Exploratory Analysis for the Effects of Conurbation and Outskirt Oriented Development on the Urban Thermal Environment

The purpose of this study is to examine, at an exploratory level, the impact of conurbation and urban outskirt development on urban temperature. The InVEST Urban Cooling Model is used to simulate the urban thermal environment. Total five urbanization scenarios are created using the 2018 land cover map and atmospheric meteorological data for the City of Gangneung. Findings are as follows; it is observed that (1) an increase in the total amount of urban development lowers the cooling capacity index value and increases the average temperature value, (2) if the same area is urbanized, the conurbation scenario is more effective in terms of cooling capacity index, (3) urbanization area is likely to have a negative impact on the urban thermal environment, while forest area is likely to have a positive impact. It is appropriate to discuss the results of this study at the possibility level.