Urban Heat Island Effects in Dense Built Environments: Coupling Simulation and Field Measurements to Enhance Climate Resilience Please enter special issue title

Introduction 

This special issue aims to advance scientific and policy understanding of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect in dense built environments, where high building density, limited vegetation, and anthropogenic heat significantly intensify thermal stress. Its objective is to integrate research across urban climatology, building physics, public health, urban planning, and environmental modelling to improve the quantification of UHI dynamics and evaluate mitigation strategies suited to compact urban forms. Contributions are encouraged that address monitoring techniques, multi-scale modelling approaches, nature-based and technological solutions, and governance frameworks that strengthen urban climate resilience. By combining empirical studies, simulation-based research, and policy analysis, the special issue seeks to provide evidence-based insights that support adaptive urban design and climate-responsive planning in rapidly urbanising high-density contexts.

A central originality of this special issue is its explicit focus on dense urban fabrics, where Urban Heat Island processes are shaped by vertical morphology, material properties, reduced ventilation, and complex radiative exchanges. While UHI research is extensive, less attention has been given to how these mechanisms interact specifically in compact cities and how effective mitigation can be achieved without compromising urban density and sustainability goals. This issue therefore promotes a multi-scale perspective spanning building components, street canyons, neighbourhoods, and metropolitan systems. It also fosters interdisciplinary integration between climate science, urban design, building performance, and public health, bridging gaps between modelling, monitoring, and implementation.

The topical relevance of this special issue is underscored by increasing global temperatures, more frequent and intense heatwaves, and ongoing urban densification. Recent extreme heat events have highlighted the vulnerability of compact urban areas, where limited cooling capacity and high heat storage amplify thermal stress and health risks. Although research increasingly recognises the interaction between climate change and urban form, actionable design guidance for dense environments remains fragmented. At the same time, cities are increasingly prioritising heat mitigation within climate adaptation policies. This special issue responds to these urgent challenges by consolidating emerging knowledge and translating scientific advances into practical insights for urban planning and design.

From a societal perspective, urban heat disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, including older adults, low-income communities, and individuals with pre-existing health conditions. By focusing on mitigation strategies in dense environments, this special issue addresses critical issues of public health, energy equity, and climate resilience. Improved understanding of UHI dynamics can support more equitable urban interventions, enhancing thermal comfort, reducing cooling demand, and lowering heat-related health impacts.

List of topic areas

• Urban Heat Island dynamics in dense urban environments;
• Urban morphology, vertical density, and canyon effects
• Building physics and material contributions to urban overheating
• Monitoring and measurement techniques for urban heat (sensors, remote sensing, field campaigns)
• Multi-scale modelling of urban thermal environments (building to city scale)
• Coupled climate urban simulation frameworks
• Nature-based solutions for heat mitigation (green infrastructure, urban vegetation, blue spaces)
• Technological and engineered mitigation strategies (cool materials, shading systems, ventilation design)
• Heat-health interactions and public health risk assessment
• Vulnerability and social equity in urban heat exposure
• Urban planning and design strategies for climate adaptation
• Governance, policy frameworks, and implementation pathways for heat resilience
• Scenario analysis and future climate projections for dense urban areas
• Energy demand, overheating, and building performance under extreme heat
• Evidence-based design guidelines for climate-responsive compact cities

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here.

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else while under review for this journal.

Key deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 15th April 2026

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31st March 2027