Analyzing the role of (semi-)private greenery in mitigating adverse heat effects in urban areas

Cities face a growing number of challenges related to climate change, of which urban heat is becoming an increasingly pressing issue. Added vegetation has proven to be an effective measure to counteract heat issues. While governments have mainly been focusing on adding greenery to public areas, the effect of adding greenery in (semi-)private areas has not been investigated extensively. Private gardens in the Netherlands have, on average, large amounts of paved area, which indicates the potential of adding greenery to these areas. The main objective of this report was to understand the effect that the addition of greenery in (semi-)private areas can have on urban heat. A literature review was performed to summarize both the potential effect of different types of greenery on urban heat, as well as the current state of research performed regarding (semi-)private areas. Next, data provided in the Klimaat effect atlas was aggregated on neighborhood level for the city of Eindhoven, in order to gain more insight in the current presence of heat issues throughout the city. The maps used for this analysis relate to the topics of Urban Heat Island, Physiological Equivalent Temperature, heat stress, and distance to cool places. Various sociodemographic and socio-economic variables were checked for correlation with these aggregated heat values. New input data was then produced, based on a scenario that includes more greenery in (semi-)private areas, and used in multiple models to reproduce the Klimaateff ectatlas data. Hereafter, the new data was compared to the original data to draw conclusion regarding the effect of the proposed scenario. The results show clear improvements with regard to urban heat for each of the analyzed heat topics. The biggest improvements were found in mostly residential neighborhoods. Also, significant correlations were found between the aggregated heat values and some of the socio-demographic variables. Governments should put more effort into incentivizing
and working together with private individuals and housing corporations to add more greenery to (semi-)private areas. The most vulnerable neighborhoods should be prioritized by policymakers, so that any inequality is tackled simultaneously with the mitigation of adverse heat effects.

Ceelen_1021592_ABP_Borgers_MSc_thesis