An investigation into the influence of Public Green Spaces on the climate of Bengaluru

Abstract

An outcome of Urbanization, cities are now ubiquitous with landscapes having modified energy balance, leading to inadvertent environmental consequences such as Urban Heat Islands (UHI). In this context, Public Green Spaces (P.G.S.) have long been considered as an important sink, wherein a cooler ambience exists than their surrounding built-up spaces; thereby forming Park Cool Islands (P.C.I.). It’s noteworthy to hence postulate that the climatic deterioration can be intensified by the degradation of P.G.S. This research, based on scientific evidence, outlines the P.C.I. by highlighting the role of P.G.S. in battling Urban Warming. In the present study, stationary and mobile surveys were conducted to determine the temporal and spatial variation of ambient air temperature, and to ascertain the role of P.G.S. in cooling the neighboring surroundings. It was also found that, while surrounding landscapes always showed an increasing trend for the maximum, minimum and mean ambient air temperatures, these were found to be relatively lower than those depicted by stations farther from the P.G.S. Hence, this research has demonstrated that P.G.S. could maximize thermal comfort benefits across neighborhoods, through appropriate planning and design.

Keywords

• green
• urban spaces
• warming
• climate
• bengaluru