Multi-Scale Analysis of the Mitigation Effect of Green Space Morphology on Urban Heat Islands

Urban green spaces (UGS) serve as critical mitigators of urban heat islands (UHIs), yet the scale-dependent mechanisms through which UGS morphology regulates thermal effects remain insufficiently understood. This study investigates the multi-scale relationships between UGS spatial patterns and cooling effects in Macao, employing morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) to characterize UGS configurations and geographically weighted regression (GWR) to examine city-scale thermal interactions, complemented by patch-scale buffer analyses of area, perimeter, and landscape shape index effects. Results demonstrate that high-UGS-integrity areas significantly enhance cooling capacity (area with proportion of core ≥35% showing optimal performance), while fragmented elements (branches, edges) exacerbate UHIs, with patch-scale analyses revealing nonlinear threshold effects in cooling efficiency. A tripartite classification of UGS by cooling capacity identifies strong mitigation types with optimal shape metrics and cooling extents. These findings establish a tripartite UGS classification system based on cooling performance and identify optimal morphological parameters, advancing understanding of thermal regulation mechanisms in urban environments. This research provides empirical evidence for UGS planning strategies prioritizing core area conservation, morphological optimization, and seasonal adaptation to improve urban climate resilience, offering practical insights for sustainable development in high-density coastal cities.