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Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects pose a significant environmental challenge in contemporary urban planning, driven by accelerating climate change, rapid urban development, and changes in land use patterns. This study explores the potential of urban greenery as a mitigation strategy for UHI by conducting a systematic and bibliometric review of 42 peerreviewed studies, selected using the PRISMA 2020 protocol. A mixed methods approach was employed, integrating a systematic review with a critical content synthesis of selected studies using PRISMA 2020 and bibliometric mapping using VOSviewer (1.6.19). The results indicate that urban greenery, encompassing green roofs, vegetated facades, urban forests, and street trees, plays a critical role in mitigating surface and air temperatures by enhancing evapotranspiration, increasing surface reflectivity (albedo), providing shading, and improving urban ventilation dynamics. Widely used indicators in these studies include Land Surface Temperature, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and canopy coverage. The bibliometric analysis reveals exponential growth in related publications between 2014 and 2024, is an R° = 0.8263, along with emerging thematic clusters centered on thermal comfort modeling, nature-based solutions, and urban climate resilience. China, Australia, and the United States account for the majority of contributions, while tropical and lower-income regions remain underrepresented. The findings highlight critical thematic and geographic gaps, emphasizing the need for future research incorporating empirical validation, field experimentation, and integrative modeling to advance equitable and context-sensitive UHI mitigation strategies.
Key Words: Urban greenery Urban heat island Thermal comfort Green infrastructure PRISMA VOSviewer
ABSTRACT
Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects pose a significant environmental challenge in contemporary urban planning, driven by accelerating climate change, rapid urban development, and changes in land use patterns. This study explores the potential of urban greenery as a mitigation strategy for UHI by conducting a systematic and bibliometric review of 42 peerreviewed studies, selected using the PRISMA 2020 protocol. A mixed methods approach was employed, integrating a systematic review with a critical content synthesis of selected studies using PRISMA 2020 and bibliometric mapping using VOSviewer (1.6.19). The results indicate that urban greenery, encompassing green roofs, vegetated facades, urban forests, and street trees, plays a critical role in mitigating surface and air temperatures by enhancing evapotranspiration, increasing surface reflectivity (albedo), providing shading, and improving urban ventilation dynamics. Widely used indicators in these studies include Land Surface Temperature, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and canopy coverage. The bibliometric analysis reveals exponential growth in related publications between 2014 and 2024, is an R° = 0.8263, along with emerging thematic clusters centered on thermal comfort modeling, nature-based solutions, and urban climate resilience. China, Australia, and the United States account for the majority of contributions, while tropical and lower-income regions remain underrepresented. The findings highlight critical thematic and geographic gaps, emphasizing the need for future research incorporating empirical validation, field experimentation, and integrative modeling to advance equitable and context-sensitive UHI mitigation strategies.
INTRODUCTION
Urban areas are increasingly experiencing elevated air temperatures, significantly impacting public health and human thermal comfort (Algeciras et al. 2016, Pigliautile et al. 2020, Yang & Wong 2013). In response, urban planners and designers face the dual challenge of maintaining the quality of life while accommodating expanding populations (He et al. 2022, Nikezié & Markovié 2015). Over recent decades, the translation of urban climate data into actionable design strategies has gained prominence (Su et al. 2024, Kumar et al. 2025), alongside a growing emphasis on developing mitigation strategies to address the complex impacts of climate change (Kyriakodis & Santamouris 2018).
The integration of vegetation into urban design has emerged as a promising approach to mitigate the adverse effects of the UHI phenomenon while enhancing thermal comfort (Balany et al. 2020, de Quadros & Mizgier 2023a, Rouse & Bunster-Ossa 2013). Diverse forms of urban vegetation, such as green roofs, treelined streets, and park systems, contribute to urban cooling by moderating surface and air temperatures, enhancing thermal comfort, and supporting microclimatic regulation (Herath et al. 2018, Galagoda et al. 2018). UHIs, characterized by higher temperatures in urban areas compared to their rural surroundings, have become increasingly prevalent due to rapid urbanization and global climate change (Ulpiani 2019, Wong et al. 2018, Zhang et al. 2020, Zou & Zhang 2021).
Elevated urban temperatures pose significant threats to human health and comfort, necessitating the development of innovative, sustainable cooling solutions (Zhang et al. 2021). Numerous studies have demonstrated that urban greenery- including parks, green roofs, and street trees-can effectively mitigate UHI impacts (Aboelata & Sodoudi 2019, Zhou et al. 2019). Among these, green roofs have received particular attention for their thermal insulation properties, ability to reduce building energy consumption, and contribution to creating favorable microclimates for outdoor activities (Doucet 2021, Park et al. 2021, Baniya et al. 2018, Lehmann 2014, Li et al. 2014, Mutani & Todeschi 2021).
Enhancing outdoor cooling through urban parks, recreational areas, and commercial spaces has been shown to improve thermal comfort for visitors while promoting the sustainable use of outdoor environments (Chafer et al. 2020, Farnham et al. 2015). The UHI effect, largely driven by heat absorption and retention on surfaces such as asphalt and concrete (Shahidan et al. 2012, Rathod, 2025), is one of the primary challenges addressed by outdoor cooling initiatives. Evaluating the effectiveness of urban greenery is therefore critical for understanding its role in reducing UHI impacts, improving urban microclimates, and enhancing liveability (Fahmy et al. 2018, He 2019).
Urban greenery offers evidence-based insights for sustainable urban planning, optimizing green infrastructure design, and informing policy decisions aimed at addressing climate change, public health, and environmental concerns (Gago etal. 2013, Santamouris et al. 2019, Wang et al. 2021). This study conducts a systematic and bibliometric review to assess the effectiveness of urban greenery in mitigating UHI impacts. The objectives are threefold:
(1) To evaluate the methodologies employed in existing research,
(ii) To identify the key indicators used to quantify cooling effects, and
(iii) To highlight research gaps and suggest future directions.
By synthesizing evidence across diverse geographic and climatic contexts, this study seeks to advance knowledge on urban greenery's role in fostering climate-resilient and thermally comfortable cities. This review is distinctive in its integration of systematic bibliometric mapping with an indicator-based content synthesis, allowing for both quantitative and qualitative assessments of UHI mitigation strategies. Additionally, a novel conceptual framework is developed, linking urban greenery types to specific cooling mechanisms and socio-ecological contexts.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present literature was thoroughly reviewed using established criteria and techniques. To do this, extensive databases were searched for relevant research articles. The SCOPUS database was used as the primary data source for the study, as almost all the publications found in the Web of Science databases were also found in the Scopus database (Meho & Sugimoto 2009). The selection of search strings was informed by preliminary scoping reviews and analysis of frequently occurring terms in prior studies on UHI mitigation. Keywords such as 'Urban Greenery', 'Green Roof', "Street Trees', and 'Urban Heat Mitigation' were chosen to capture both the typologies of urban vegetation and their role in thermal regulation. Boolean operators (e.g., and, OR) were strategically employed to maximize coverage while minimizing irrelevant results. This research examines studies conducted over the past ten years, specifically from 2014 to 2024, and retrieves data from all 785 documents in CSV format using keyword combinations searched in Scopus on March 23, 2024.
In the search, the following keywords and combinations were used:
Search String Set 1 - ("Urban Greenery" OR "Urban Green Infrastructure" OR "Green Space") AND ("Urban Heat Island" OR "UHI" OR "Urban Climate Mitigation"),
Search String Set 2 - ("Urban Cooling" OR "Urban Heat Mitigation") AND ("Green Roofs" OR "Street Trees" OR "Urban Parks" OR "Vegetation Cover").
The next step is to generate search results using the aforementioned keywords, and the process for selecting those results is described in greater detail in the following section. The literature review was conducted by systematically searching the Scopus database for relevant papers. A total of 785 articles were initially identified through the database search. To refine the dataset, an exclusion criterion was applied, which involved removing 430 articles that were either duplicates or published before 2014. This reduced the records to 355, which were then screened for relevance based on their titles and abstracts. During this stage, 230 records were excluded because their titles and abstracts did not align with the research focus. Subsequently, 125 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. Of these, 83 were excluded due to reasons such as scope misalignment, lack of focus on the topic, or language barriers. Ultimately, 42 articles were deemed relevant and included in the review. These articles were categorized under themes such as urban greenery, UHI, and mitigation strategies. After a comprehensive evaluation of the research, the factors found are presented in a table for convenient access. A flow chart depicting the entire process is mentioned in the PRISMA (Fig. 1), showing the number of studies identified, screened, and included. Although moderate in size, this sample is consistent with similar systematic reviews in the urban climate and green infrastructure domains. It was deemed sufficient to capture a comprehensive range of methodologies, indicators, and research trends necessary for critical synthesis and gap identification. The search was restricted to peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2014 and 2024. Duplicates and irrelevant studies were excluded following title, abstract, and full-text screening. A total of 42 studies were ultimately included in the review. Following revisions, a validation check confirmed that the selected articles comprehensively represent the current research landscape.
To make sure the papers included in systematic reviews are of high quality, Dyba & Dingsoyr (2008) developed a checklist of questions (Dyba & Dingsgyr 2008).Three primary criteria serve as the foundation for these inquiries: relevance, rigor, and credibility. Depending on how well the nominated articles meet the three quality requirements, they are assigned a score of either 1 or 0. Content that receives a score of four or above is deemed to be of exceptional quality and is eligible for inclusion in the review.
The review also explores bibliometric analysis and which was conducted to provide a quantitative overview of the scholarly landscape related to urban greenery in ОНТ mitigation. This analysis encompassed three key aspects: keyword co-occurrence, country analysis, and publication trends over time. Keyword co-occurrence data, visualized using VOSviewer (1.6.19) (Arruda 2022, van Eck 2010), was derived from the metadata of the 42 documents that met the inclusion criteria following the PRISMA process. This analysis aimed to identify and map the prominent themes and their interrelationships within the research area. Furthermore, a country analysis was performed on these 42 documents to ascertain the geographical distribution of research contributions. Finally, the publication year data for the refined set of documents was analyzed to identify temporal trends. Notably, the analysis of publications per year revealed an exponential growth pattern, indicating an increasing scholarly interest and activity in UHI and urban greenery over the studied period.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Bibliometric Analysis
The bibliometric analysis conducted using VOSviewer software provides a quantitative visualization of research trends and intellectual structures within the domain of urban greenery and UHI mitigation. Based on the 42 refined studies identified through the PRISMA process, keyword co-occurrence mapping revealed several dominant thematic clusters. Country-level analysis revealed a pronounced geographic concentration in research output. Also, an analysis of publication trends by year illustrates a steep exponential growth in scholarly attention toward UHI mitigation via urban greenery.
Keyword Co-Occurrence Network and Thematic Clustering
The keyword co-occurrence network generated through VOSviewer (Fig. 2) illustrates the intellectual landscape of research on urban greenery and UHI mitigation. Nodes represent keywords, while their size corresponds to frequency, and lines indicate co-occurrence relationships. The clustering algorithm identified five distinct thematic clusters, each represented by a unique color, signifying closely related research topics.
The keyword co-occurrence network reveals a strong research emphasis on biophysical strategies for UHI mitigation, with clusters centered around 'thermal comfort," "green infrastructure," and 'urban cooling." However, terms related to social dimensions, such as 'environmental justice," "vulnerability," and 'public health," are notably absent or underrepresented, suggesting a thematic imbalance. This indicates that current research predominantly addresses physical and technological aspects of UHI mitigation, with less attention to socioecological resilience and equity considerations. While the VOSviewer analysis identified clusters such as 'thermal comfort" and 'reforestation,' a deeper evaluation reveals a concentration of studies in high-income regions and a thematic bias toward physical cooling strategies, with comparatively less emphasis on social equity and long-term resilience frameworks. This highlights critical gaps in UHI mitigation research, notably the need for more integrative and interdisciplinary approaches.
Overall, the network reflects the maturity and multidimensionality of the field, while also revealing underexplored linkages that future research could targetespecially involving social equity, long-term monitoring, and urban greenery typologies.
Country Network Analysis
The country network analysis (Fig. 3) highlights the geographic distribution of research output among the 42 peerreviewed articles refined through the PRISMA process. The country-level analysis shows that research on UHI mitigation is heavily concentrated in China, Australia, and the USA, which together account for a substantial proportion of the literature. This geographic clustering reflects strong research capacity and investment in urban climate resilience in high-income nations. However, it also highlights a significant imbalance, with limited contributions from tropical and low-income regions where UHI effects are often more severe and resilience resources more constrained. The underrepresentation of these vulnerable areas signals a critical gap in the global knowledge base and underscores the need for expanding empirical studies and context-specific mitigation strategies in diverse climatic and socio-economic settings.
The bibliometric analysis, while revealing dominant themes such as thermal comfort, green infrastructure, and urban cooling, also uncovers critical gaps in the current research landscape. The thematic focus remains heavily skewed toward biophysical and technical mitigation strategies, with limited integration of social equity, public health, and long-term resilience considerations. Furthermore, the concentration of research outputs in high-income countries, notably China, Australia, and the USA, highlights a geographic imbalance that risks overlooking contextspecific challenges faced by rapidly urbanizing and climatevulnerable regions in the Global South. These findings suggest that future UHI mitigation research must adopt a more interdisciplinary approach, integrating environmental, social, and policy dimensions, and prioritize empirical studies in underrepresented areas to ensure globally relevant and equitable solutions."
Publication Trend Analysis
An analysis of the temporal distribution of publications (Fig. 4) reveals a clear and sustained upward trajectory in research activity surrounding urban greenery and UHI mitigation between 2014 and 2024. While early contributions remained modest, averaging 1 to 2 publications per year from 2014 to 2017, interest in the topic began to accelerate from 2018 onward, coinciding with rising global awareness of climate-related urban vulnerabilities and the mainstreaming of nature-based solutions (NBS) in policy frameworks. The exponential trendline (R? = 0.8263) fitted to the publication data underscores this momentum, reflecting a near doubling of output every few years.
By 2021, publication numbers had reached 6 per year, and the upward trend continued through 2024, peaking at 9 publications. The curve's shape suggests that the field is in a phase of rapid expansion, driven by interdisciplinary integration and increased urgency to adapt cities to extreme heat events. This exponential growth in scholarly output not only highlights the evolving maturity of the research domain but also signals a growing international commitment to evidence-based urban greening practices for climate resilience.
Content Analysis
The content analysis of the 42 studies, meticulously selected through the PRISMA process, involved a systematic examination of their core components to extract meaningful insights. For each study, key information was recorded, including the source of publication, the explicitly stated objective, the research methodology employed, the factors or variables investigated, and the key findings reported. This detailed extraction process allowed for a structured comparison and synthesis of the existing literature, enabling the identification of common research themes, methodological approaches, and significant outcomes within the field of UHI and urban greenery. By systematically categorizing and analyzing these elements across the body of literature, this content analysis aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of research and highlight potential areas for future investigation. The results from the data extraction process are shown in Table 1.
A few studies have explored the function of urban greenery in moderating the UHI effect, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. UHIs are created in part by the lack of greenery, which significantly raises thermal stress for locals and increases illness and death. Therefore, mitigation techniques are required to minimize urban heat, especially considering global warming, urbanization, and the growing frequency and severity of heatwaves (Wong et al. 2021). Using satellite imaging, mobile air temperature profiling, and spatial metrics including green space area, canopy density, and the perimeter-to-area ratio, several studies concentrated on recording land surface temperatures to quantify temperature decreases. These studies have been carried out in a variety of geographic settings, such as Seoul, South Korea, Suzhou and Beijing, China, and Adelaide, Australia (Zhang et al. 2019). As cities grow quickly, UHIs, or UHIs, have received a lot of attention lately and are quickly becoming a major global concern. Evaluating the cooling benefits of various foliage kinds, such as street trees, tiny green areas, and green roofs, has been a major focus of these studies. Through improved wind dynamics and increased evapotranspiration, the results consistently demonstrate that urban greenery has a large potential to reduce air and surface temperatures, particularly during the warmer months (Balany et al. 2020).
Key Indicators for Assessing the Cooling Effects of Urban Greenery
A comprehensive evaluation of the benefits of urban greenery in mitigating the UHI effect necessitates the use of appropriate indicators that can effectively quantify the cooling impacts. Researchers have employed a diverse set of indicators, derived from various methodologies, to assess the influence of vegetation on the urban thermal environment. These indicators provide insights into different aspects of UHI mitigation, including surface temperature reduction, ambient air cooling, and improvements in human thermal comfort.
Land Surface Temperature (LST) stands as a widely utilized indicator, primarily obtained from thermal remote sensing data. It measures the radiative temperature of the ground surface and serves as a direct proxy for the heat stored in urban materials. A reduction in LST in vegetated areas compared to non-vegetated areas is a clear indication of the cooling effect provided by urban greenery (Nath 2025). The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is another frequently employed indicator, derived from the red and near-infrared bands of satellite imagery. NDVI quantifies the amount and health of vegetation present in an area. Higher NDVI values typically correlate with denser and more vigorous vegetation, which is generally associated with greater cooling potential through evapotranspiration and shading (Bobo Merga et al. 2024).
Canopy Coverage is a crucial indicator for assessing the extent of tree cover in urban areas. Measured using remote sensing or field surveys, canopy coverage represents the proportion of the ground shaded by tree crowns. Higher canopy coverage is directly linked to increased shade, which plays a significant role in reducing surface and ambient air temperatures (Semenzato & Bortolini 2023). Air Temperature (Ta), measured at a standard height above the ground, is a fundamental indicator of the cooling effect of urban greenery. Studies often compare air temperatures in green spaces with those in surrounding developed areas to quantify the magnitude of the cooling provided by vegetation (Kotharkar et al. 2023). To assess the impact on human wellbeing, researchers often use Thermal Comfort Indices such as the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) (Blazejezyk et al. 2012). These indices integrate various meteorological parameters to provide a comprehensive measure of how comfortable humans feel in a given thermal environment. Improvements in these indices in vegetated areas indicate enhanced outdoor comfort due to the presence of greenery.
Beyond these primary indicators, a range of other metrics are used to evaluate specific aspects of UHI and the role of urban greenery. These include Relative Humidity (RH), which can increase in vegetated areas due to evapotranspiration, potentially enhancing the cooling sensation 9, Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT), representing the average temperature of the surrounding surfaces affecting human thermal comfort, Wind Speed (WS), which can be influenced by vegetation and affect heat dissipation, Solar Irradiance, indicating the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface, which is reduced by shading from vegetation, and Sensible Heat Flux, representing the heat exchange between the surface and the air (Azmeer et al. 2024). Additionally, indicators like Cooling Effect Intensity (CEI) and Cooling Effect Distance (CED) are used to quantify the magnitude and spatial extent of the cooling provided by urban green spaces (Aram et al. 2019), while Park Cooling Intensity (PCI) and Park Cooling Area (PCA) are specific to the assessment of urban parks. The Cooling Index (CI) provides a standardized approach to assessing vegetation's cooling performance. To quantify visible greenery and threedimensional urban structure, indicators such as the Green View Index (GVI) (Li et al. 2020) and Building Volume Fraction (BVF) and Tree Volume Fraction (TVF) (Zhao et al. 2018) have been widely applied. As summarized by Halder et al. (2025), the integration of these indices enables a comprehensive evaluation of urban greenery's impact on thermal comfort and microclimate regulation.
The diverse array of indicators used in the literature reflects the multifaceted nature of UHI and the various ways in which urban greenery can influence the urban thermal environment. Researchers often employ a combination of these indicators to provide a comprehensive assessment of the cooling effects from different perspectives, including surface temperature, ambient air temperature, and human thermal comfort. The selection of appropriate indicators should align with the specific objectives of the study and the scale of analysis to ensure a robust and meaningful evaluation of the benefits of urban greenery in mitigating the UHI effect.
Contributions of Different Types of Urban Greenery to UHI Mitigation
Greening cities as a means of mitigating urban heat is gaining attention due to the combined effects of global warming and the growth of UHIs. The included research offers insightful information about the traits, approaches, and constraints of assessing the contribution of urban greenery to the reduction of UHIs. To quantify the cooling effects of greenery, most of the research used quantitative approaches like spatial regression (Chun & Guldmann 2018) and numerical simulation tools like ENVI- met (Balany et al. 2020). Many city people have experienced increased thermal stress because of the persistent impacts of UHIs, which have been made worse by global warming. This is especially true for individuals who are more susceptible during times of intense heat. Urban trees and green infrastructure in general are crucial for reducing urban heat and improving human comfort (Hiemstra et al. 2017). Geographical sites included mid-sized cities like Columbus, Ohio (Chun & Guldmann 2018) and high-density cities like Hong Kong (Tan 2016). Urban parks, woods, green roofs, walls, and street trees were among the frequently assessed kinds of greenery (Ma et al. 2023). Human thermal comfort, evapotranspiration rates, air temperature, land surface temperature, and shading impacts were among the indicators evaluated (Knight et al. 2021).
Evaluating the impact of urban greenery on the UHI effect requires the application of rigorous and appropriate methodologies. Researchers have employed a variety of techniques to quantify the cooling benefits of vegetation in urban settings, each with its own strengths and limitations. The primary methodologies used in this field include remote sensing techniques, field measurements, and numerical simulations (Weng 2009, Zhou et al. 2016). The assessment techniques were divided into three categories: modeling-based, experimental, and observational. While experimental approaches examined site-specific treatments, such as wind-path and sky view factor-based designs (Tan 2017), observational research used satellite data to analyze vegetation indicators like NDVI (Wong et al. 2011). To quantify the effect of vegetation on microclimates, modeling studies simulated several scenarios (Balany et al. 2020). Most of the included research on urban greenery and its function in reducing the impacts of UHIs employs both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The negative consequences of climate change can be lessened by mitigating the effects of UHI. To estimate the cooling effects of urban greenery, quantitative research frequently uses satellite images, climate models, and temperature data (both surface and air temperatures) (Andersson-Sk61d 2018, Darkwah & Cobbinah 2014). Large metropolitan centers like Beijing, New Delhi, and American cities are the subject of this research, which is carried out in a variety of geographical settings, including temperate and tropical regions like Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. Parks, green rooftops, vertical gardens, green walls, and street trees are among the urban greenery types evaluated. By reducing UHI, they all provide shade, boost evapotranspiration, and change the local microclimate. UHI reduction has been successfully achieved using highly reflecting materials in place of traditional paved surfaces on highways and roofs, as well as the incorporation of vegetative green space into urban design (Almazan et al. 2012, Knez 2018, Uggla 2014). Although these techniques work well when used separately, new technology has made it possible for vegetation to make up for the shortcomings of previous roof-cooling techniques with greening roofs (Cimburova & Blumentrath 2022, Hui & Jim,2022, Yang et al. 2020). A comparison of each methodology is given in Table 2.
The effectiveness of urban greenery in mitigating UHI is assessed using a variety of techniques. The most efficient method of urban cooling is generally thought to be UHI, and urban trees and forests (Hwang 2017). This is mostly due to shade and lowering ground surface temperatures: however, evapotranspiration is also sometimes used. Direct measurements of the cooling effects are frequently made using remote sensing technologies and ground-based sensors (Jang 2024). To evaluate how green spaces affect temperature and forecast future events, studies also use modeling and simulation approaches like Urban Canopy Models (UCMs) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (Esfehankalateh et al. 2021). These studies usually evaluate temperature decrease, evapotranspiration rates, biodiversity, and energy savings as key markers. Many studies use both direct observations and satellite data to measure temperature decline, which is frequently the main emphasis (Kumar & Shukla 2022).
While urban greenery provides significant benefits for UHI mitigation, several limitations must also be acknowledged. In arid and semi-arid regions, the high-water demand of green infrastructure can strain already limited water resources, potentially undermining sustainability goals (Norton et al. 2015). Furthermore, the maintenance and operational costs associated with urban green spaces can be substantial, posing challenges for long-term upkeep, particularly in cities with constrained municipal budgets (Meerow & Newell 2017, Frantzeskaki 2019). Another emerging concern is the phenomenon of 'green gentrification," where the introduction of green amenities can lead to increased property values and the displacement of economically vulnerable populations (Anguelovski et al. 2019). These challenges highlight the need for careful planning, inclusive policymaking, and the integration of adaptive management strategies to ensure that urban greenery interventions are both environmentally sustainable and socially equitable (Elmgvist et al. 2017).
However, there are significant gaps in the literature, even if these studies offer insightful information. Traditional parks, forests, wetlands, rivers, private gardens, street trees, allotments, playing fields, cemeteries, and more recent inventions like green roofs and sustainable drainage systems are examples of green infrastructure networks in urban settings (Barau 2015, Detommaso et al. 2021). Smaller-scale or more localized greenery interventions, such as community gardens or street trees, have received less attention in studies that have concentrated on large-scale green infrastructures (Abdi et al. 2020b, Sun et al. 2023). Furthermore, comparatively little study has been done in tropical, desert, or suburban settings where the impacts of greenery may differ. Instead, most studies have been carried out in densely populated, temperate metropolitan regions. In addition, secondary advantages like biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and the socioeconomic effects of greenerysuch as improved public health and energy savings-are not given enough attention. Chun & Guldmann (2018) highlighted the opposing functions of greenery in summer and winter, demonstrating that little research has addressed seasonal fluctuations in greenery's cooling benefits (Chun & Guldmann 2018).
Furthermore, research frequently concentrated on localized scales, restricting the findings" wider application, even if numerical techniques like ENVI-met were commonly employed (Balany et al. 2020). Furthermore, there isn't much thorough research in the literature on health-related indicators like the physiological and psychological effects of urban greenery, especially regarding lowering heat stress and improving mental health (Santamouris 2015). The necessity for more uniform and comparable assessment frameworks across all locations and types of greenery is further highlighted by the lack of established measures for assessing urban greenery's efficacy in mitigating U HI (Santamouris 2017).
DISCUSSION
Conceptual framework for urban greenery and UHI mitigation: Climate warming is projected to intensify the UHI effect (Tsoka 2020). Despite the abundance of scientific information available, little is known about the overall and global impact of increasing urban green infrastructure (GI) on urban climate, environmental quality, and health, as well as lowering both surface and air temperatures, particularly during warmer months (Santamouris et al. 2018). In an examination of the cooling impacts of tree changes such as decreasing canopy density and increasing the number of trees in a particular canopy, it was shown that high-density trees can result in temperature decreases of up to 2.5 °C in a tropical environment (Yang 2021). These impacts have been evaluated using a variety of methodologies, including satellite images, mobile air temperature monitoring, and spatial metrics such as canopy density and green space area. The research covers a wide range of urban environments, from congested cities like Hong Kong to mid-sized cities like Columbus, Ohio, with consistent results of temperature decreases and microclimate benefits (Chun & Guldmann 2018, Tong et al. 2017). Furthermore, various plant typessuch as green roofs, vertical gardens, and street trees-have been shown to contribute differently to UHI mitigation depending on their location and layout.
Based on a synthesis of findings from the selected peer-reviewed studies, a conceptual framework has been developed to systematically illustrate the relationships between urban greenery types, cooling mechanisms, and contextual factors influencing UHI mitigation. This framework integrates diverse evidence from the literature, capturing how biophysical processes and socio-ecological, infrastructural, and policy dimensions interrelate to determine the effectiveness of urban greenery interventions. The framework is presented in Fig. 5.
Conceptual framework developed to illustrate the pathways through which different types of urban greenery, such as street trees, parks, green roofs, and vertical greenery, contribute to UHI mitigation. Each greenery type operates through primary cooling mechanisms, including shading, evapotranspiration, and albedo enhancement. These mechanisms are further influenced by socio-ecological factors like biodiversity, species selection, and maintenance practices, infrastructural characteristics such as urban form and surface materials, and policy and governance elements including greening incentives and urban zoning regulations. The interaction of these factors ultimately determines the effectiveness and equity of UHI mitigation outcomes, such as surface and air cooling and improvements in human thermal comfort. This integrative framework highlights the need for a holistic approach that combines ecological, infrastructural, and policy dimensions in designing resilient urban cooling strategies.
Urban planning and its implications: The findings of this research offer significant information for urban planning and policy development. Urban planners are urged to take a more holistic approach to implementing green infrastructure, acknowledging the value of both large-scale solutions like urban parks and local interventions like street trees and community gardens (Cai 2018). A green infrastructure approach to spatial planning has arisen, viewing land and water networks as vital societal infrastructure that must be conserved, built, planned, and maintained in the future, as well as completely incorporated into spatial planning processes (Mcpherson et al. 2005). Mitigation of UHI impacts can help reduce the negative consequences of climate change. Such techniques may be adjusted to meet local demands, increasing their effectiveness in minimizing UHI impacts (Zhang et al. 2022). Policies should also stress the incorporation of vegetation into both new and retrofitting projects, therefore improving microclimates and urban liveability. To guarantee that these initiatives are sustainable and scalable, policies must incorporate provisions for longterm green space preservation and administration.
Limitations and Gaps
While the evidence for urban greenery's cooling advantages is strong, the analysis highlights substantial gaps and limits. A major difficulty is a lack of methodological consistency between research, which makes comparisons and generalization difficult (Zhang et al. 2023). The cooling capacity varies significantly according to the scale of interest (city or building level), greenery extent (park design and size), plant selection, and plant location. Urban planners must thus optimize design to maximize mitigation advantages, such as interspersing parks across a city, assigning more trees than grass space, and employing different techniques in locations where the most cooling is necessary (Wong et al. 2021). Various study methods and indicators, such as temperature decrease, evapotranspiration rates, and shading effects, are applied without established procedures. Furthermore, most research concentrates on temperate urban locations, leaving tropical, desert, and suburban regions unexplored, despite their unique climatic and urban dynamics (Wong & Jusuf, 2013). Another drawback is that many studies focus on the short term, paying little attention to the long-term sustainability, maintenance, and larger ecological, economic, and social implications of urban greenery, such as biodiversity improvement, carbon sequestration, and public health benefits. Urban green infrastructure (UGI) is critical in balancing biodiversity protection and sustainable urban development via adaptive management techniques (Xi et al. 2023).
A critical evaluation of the 42 reviewed studies reveals several common methodological limitations. First, a large proportion of studies exhibit a strong reliance on remote sensing and satellite data, often without adequate groundtruth validation, potentially reducing the accuracy of temperature and vegetation assessments. Second, many studies are geographically concentrated in a limited number of high-income, temperate-climate countries, leaving tropical and low-income urban regions underexplored. Third, most analyses are cross-sectional, lacking longitudinal data that would allow for the assessment of long-term cooling effects and vegetation dynamics over time. Fourth, socio-economic and demographic factors, which are crucial for understanding the equity of UHI mitigation outcomes, are frequently omitted from models and analyses. Finally, few studies employed mixed-methods approaches that combine quantitative assessments with qualitative community insights, limiting the holistic understanding of how greenery interventions affect diverse populations. Addressing these methodological weaknesses is essential for advancing the field toward more robust, equitable, and generalizable findings.
Gaps in socio-ecological and health dimensions: The reviewed studies reveal a limited focus on socio-ecological aspects, such as the distributional equity of cooling benefits, community engagement in greening initiatives, and environmental justice implications. Few studies address how UHI mitigation efforts may differentially impact various socio-economic groups or neighborhoods. Additionally, the co-benefits of urban greenery for public health, including reductions in heat-related illnesses and improvements in mental well-being, remain underexplored in the current literature. Future research should integrate socio-ecological variables and health outcomes into the assessment of UHI mitigation strategies to ensure holistic and equitable urban adaptation planning.
Neglect of Seasonal Variability: Another limitation is the lack of attention to seasonal variability. Most studies assess UHI mitigation based on summertime data, neglecting the performance of urban greenery across different seasons. Understanding how vegetation functions during varying climatic conditions is crucial for optimizing its design and maintenance schedules and ensuring year-round thermal comfort. Longitudinal and multi-season studies are needed to capture these dynamics more accurately.
Context-specific feasibility and socioeconomic constraints: While green roofs, urban trees, and parks are widely recommended for UHI mitigation, few studies critically assess their context-specific feasibility. High installation and maintenance costs, competition for land in densely built environments, water scarcity in arid regions, and lack of technical capacity can significantly constrain the implementation of these solutions, particularly in low-income and rapidly urbanizing areas. Future research must evaluate not only the technical effectiveness but also the economic and social feasibility of green interventions to ensure sustainable and equitable deployment across diverse urban contexts.
Assessment of instrumentation and data collection: The reviewed studies predominantly rely on remote sensing datasets such as Landsat and MODIS for temperature and vegetation assessments. Field-based meteorological measurements (e.g., air temperature loggers, anemometers) are also employed, albeit less frequently. While remote sensing provides extensive spatial coverage, it is limited by temporal resolution and potential inaccuracies in surface temperature retrieval. Field-based measurements offer higher precision but are often restricted in spatial scale. Simulation tools like ENVI-met and SOLWEIG are commonly used to model microclimatic effects, but their reliability depends heavily on accurate calibration and input data. The limited integration of remote, field, and modeling approaches in many studies highlights a methodological gap that future research should address for more robust and comprehensive assessments.
Future Research Direction
Future research should fill the gaps indicated in the present studies. This includes long-term evaluations of greenery's cooling benefits, investigations of its effects in various geographical and climatic situations, and analyses of seasonal fluctuations in efficacy. Creating standardized evaluation frameworks for analyzing greenery's involvement in ОНТ reduction is critical for producing comparable and practical results. Furthermore, future studies should look at indirect advantages such as emotional well-being, health, and energy savings, which are frequently disregarded in existing studies. A comprehensive strategy that includes ecological, economic, and social elements will not only improve urban planning techniques but will also increase the ability of urban greenery to reduce UHI impacts and contribute to sustainable urban development. Future research should address the current thematic and geographic imbalances by integrating socioecological perspectives and expanding empirical studies to include underrepresented regions, particularly those most vulnerable to UHI effects.
While this review synthesizes key insights into the role of urban greenery in mitigating UHI effects, it is important to acknowledge that the findings are primarily derived from studies conducted in temperate and high-income urban contexts. The limited representation of tropical, arid, and low-income regions constrains the generalizability of the conclusions. Urban heat dynamics, vegetation performance, and socio-economic interactions may vary considerably across different climatic zones and socio-economic settings. Therefore, further empirical research is urgently needed in underrepresented regions to develop contextspecific strategies that address the unique challenges and opportunities in diverse urban environments.
CONCLUSIONS
This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge on the effectiveness of urban greenery in mitigating UHI effects. Drawing on 42 selected studies, the findings confirm that urban green infrastructure, including street trees, green roofs, parks, and green walls, plays a significant role in reducing both surface and ambient air temperatures. The mechanisms of mitigation, particularly evapotranspiration, shading, and albedo enhancement, consistently demonstrate measurable cooling benefits across various climatic and urban typologies. The study also revealed important methodological trends and disparities. Remote sensing tools, especially NDVI and LST derived from satellite imagery, remain central to quantitative assessments, while simulation models such as ENVI met enable scenario testing and design optimization. Field-based measurements complement these approaches by offering localized validation.
While this study is based on a systematic review and bibliometric analysis of existing literature, it offers a critical synthesis of current research on UHI mitigation through urban greenery. By highlighting thematic gaps, such as the underrepresentation of socioecological resilience and geographic imbalances in research focus, this review provides a strategic framework for future investigations. Moving forward, there is a pressing need for empirical validation through field experiments, long-term monitoring studies, and integrative modeling approaches to enhance the understanding and effectiveness of urban greenery interventions. Future research should prioritize contextspecific studies, particularly in tropical and low-income regions, to ensure the development of equitable and resilient UHI mitigation strategies. From a planning and policy perspective, the integration of green infrastructure into urban design must become both a mitigation and adaptation strategy. Policymakers should prioritize inclusive, contextsensitive solutions that combine ecological performance with social equity. Ultimately, urban greenery stands out as a critical tool for building climate-resilient, healthy, and sustainable cities in the face of accelerating urban heat challenges. This study synthesized current knowledge on the cooling benefits of urban greenery in mitigating UHI effects and identified significant research gaps. While urban greenery remains a vital strategy for UHI mitigation, future implementations must carefully balance its environmental benefits with considerations of water resource management, maintenance sustainability, and social equity to avoid unintended negative consequences. Further interdisciplinary research, including empirical validation and context-specific studies, is needed to enhance the resilience and equity of urban climate adaptation strategies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to all the researchers whose work was reviewed and synthesized in this study. Their valuable contributions have shaped the knowledge base surrounding urban greenery and its role in mitigating UHI effects. We also acknowledge the use of VOSviewer software for the bibliometric analysis, which provided critical insights into thematic trends and research networks. Special thanks are extended to the institutions and libraries that provided access to academic databases, making the systematic literature review possible. Finally, the authors appreciate the support and feedback received from colleagues and academic peers throughout the development of this manuscript.
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