Perceptions of urban heat island mitigation and implementation strategies: survey and gap analysis

Sustainable development of cities and communities under climate change calls for effective and pragmatic strategies to mitigate urban heat island (UHI) during hot seasons. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of UHI mitigation measures can be affected by public perceptions during planning and implementation processes. However, the general perceptions of UHI mitigation and implementation strategies have not received adequate attention in urban climate research. This study leverages the results of a carefully designed survey to fill this research gap. The perceptions of professional respondents are largely affected by the geographic areas they work in and partially affected by how familiar respondents are with the UHI-related building codes and regulations. In addition, academic literature and government reports are the two major sources for most respondents to obtain UHI mitigation information. We also identify four knowledge and implementation gaps: the lack of public education on UHI mitigation and implementation measures, the lack of effective communications between researchers and code writers, the lack of implementing UHI mitigation strategies in some countries, and the lack of trustworthy information shared on social media. Bridging these gaps are of key importance to fostering public engagement and improving the effectiveness of UHI mitigation measures.