Park cool island and built environment. A ten-year evaluation in Parque Central, Mendoza-Argentina

Abstract

Urban greening is a strategy for mitigating urban heat island. However, vegetation demands, water and energy, high scarce resources in cities on dry land. Hence, it is necessary to rethink the relationship between green spaces and its surrounding built environment. This work´s objective is to evaluate the impact of Mendoza´s Parque Central (Argentina) on the air temperatures of its built environment, taking as a measure the park cool island intensity in the 2007–2017 period. Parque Central has a strategic value for the urban development of a residential area with a low to medium construction density. Methodologically, four monitoring campaigns were carried out during the summer periods of 2007–2008; 2010–2011; 2011–2012 and 2016–2017. In each campaign, temperature and relative humidity sensors were installed in the area. Satellite images from Landsat 7 were analyzed and four spectral indices were determined. The results indicate that during the 2016–2017 summer the forest and meadow structures were cooler than in the 2007–2008 season. Over 10 seasons, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index has increased more than 8 times, while the maximum park cool island intensities have increased 2.31 times. This non-proportionality can be explained by the densification of the built environment, among other factors.