Monitoring urban microclimates using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations

Rapid urbanisation has significantly changed the landscape of urban environments. More specifically, land use in cities has increasingly shifted towards built-up areas for urban infrastructure, housing, transportation, and industry. This has substantially altered the microclimate of cities, with one of the most noticeable impacts being the rise in urban temperatures, which negatively affects the quality of life and health of urban dwellers. As such, there is an urgent need to address these microclimate issues. Planting vegetation is one potential solution. Although urban green open spaces (GOS) are effective at mitigating microclimate impacts, they are often favoured for their aesthetic value rather than their ecological benefits. As such, the present study conducted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to monitor the urban microclimate in tree-filled and treeless areas, specifically, the air temperature distribution, to evaluate the efficiency of trees in decreasing temperatures. The findings indicate that tree-filled are cooler than treeless areas. More specifically, approximately 24.1% of the tree-filled area recorded temperatures between 28.1-29°C, while 36.5% of the treeless area recorded temperatures between 29.1-30°C. Therefore, trees effectively decreased the temperature by 1.6°C on average. These findings provide valuable insights that stakeholders can use to mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect.