Understanding urban heat island effect and its implications to climate change adaptation strategies in major Southeast Asian Cities

This report covers a project by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research. The project aims to understand the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects on the daily lives of urban residents and their implications to microclimate adaptation and mitigation strategies for planning policies in major Southeast Asian cities. For case studies, the researchers selected Bangkok, Thailand (population: 7 million) and Bandung, Indonesia (2.4 million).

The project first assesses the consequences of UHI on urban areas in the selected cities through meso-scale urban climate modelling. The researchers also examine the existing UHI mitigation and adaptation measures and the perceptions and preferences of urban stakeholders on microclimate considerations in urban planning policy. The project then proposes alternative scenarios and appropriate adaptation and mitigation responses to reduce UHI intensity and improve urban sustainability. The report also contains results and an analysis of the research outcomes.