Multidomain typology of environmentally vulnerable neighbourhoods for enhanced mitigation strategies
Cities are facing unprecedented challenges due to continuous growth, creating a multitude of environmental issues including urban overheating, daylight deficiency, noise, and air pollution. This requires an integrated approach to research and implementation of mitigation strategies, aiming at improving overall environmental quality rather than limiting efforts to a single domain. This study aims to develop a method for classifying a city into distinct and identifiable types based on their multidomain environmental characteristics and to examine the environmental vulnerability of these neighbourhood types. The study adopted a data-driven approach for classifying neighbourhoods in Bern, Switzerland, based on parameters describing neighbourhood morphology, land cover, and road network. The K-means algorithm was used to cluster the 700 neighbourhood units. Outdoor environmental quality indicators from open databases and remote sensing were used to assess the environmental conditions of these neighbourhoods, including land surface temperature, direct solar radiation, air pollutant concentration (PM2.5, PM10, NO2) and traffic noise. A total of 10 neighbourhood types emerged from the analysis. They exhibit distinctive environmental conditions in four domains, including thermal condition, daylight, air, and acoustic quality. Environmentally vulnerable neighbourhood types are identified, including those with high density (building coverage = 30±10%), dense primary road networks, or the presence of highways. The implementation of urban heat island mitigation strategies should be considered within the broader multidomain environmental context to maximize co-benefits and minimize trade-offs. Context-specific measures are needed for the identified types of neighbourhoods in the current study to promote overall environmental quality and comfort, especially during extreme weather events. Socio-economic and health vulnerability can be integrated with the multidomain neighbourhood typology in the future to inform policymaking for shaping more resilient cities.
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