The Spatial-Temporal Role of Urban Green Space in Mitigating Land Surface Temperature in Chinese Megacities

The health impacts of extreme heat intensify, increasing deaths and illnesses. As the most direct and effective way to cool down, urban green space (UGS) has gained great attention. However, due to the limited availability of UGS resources, the critical point is how to increase the cooling effect of UGS in response to the context of climate warming. Since the different spatial distribution of UGS affects its ability to alleviate the urban heat island (UHI) effect, improving the equity of UGS will significantly alter the spatial distribution of UGS. In this study, we analyze UGS and land surface temperature (LST) data from two Chinese megacities between 2000 and 2020 to investigate the potential of enhancing equitable UGS distribution in mitigating the UHI. Our findings indicate that addressing inequities in UGS distribution contributes modestly to UHI mitigation, shedding new light on enhancing the cooling effect of UGS.