Natural Solutions to Combat Urban Heat and Noise Islands: Investigation of Earth-Sheltered Buildings, Green Roofs and Urban Plantations

This review article presents a structured set of building and city-scale solutions that simultaneously mitigate the impacts of Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Urban Noise Island (UNI). 61 peer-reviewed articles published between 1981 and 2025, were examined in terms of their thermal and acoustic performances. Articles were selected by systematic keyword searches in databases with defined inclusion/exclusion criteria. In the article, building-scale strategies like green roofs, green walls, earth-sheltered buildings and blue-green infrastructures such as parks, forests, rain gardens, water bodies were considered together. According to quantitative data, green roofs and green walls can reduce surface temperatures by up to 26.9oC, indoor air temperatures by up to 11.3oC, and urban noise by 9.5 dB. When afforestation is added to these strategies, air temperatures in densely populated urban areas can be reduced by 5.48%. In addition to environmental benefits, nature-based solutions also have benefits related to energy efficiency, urban aesthetics, and public health. This study highlights research gaps and problems encountered in practice with a new dual-focus approach and offers suggestions for future studies. At the same time, it contributes to a framework that supports science-based, scalable urban planning approaches by bringing together thermal and acoustic benefits in a new synthesis.