Understanding Urban Heat Island Effect: Causes, Impacts, Factors, and Strategies for Better Livability and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Extreme heat exposure from both climate change severe events and the urban heat islands effect (UHIE) poses a threat to the world’s rapidly growing urban population and cities. Rapid urbanization results in the loss of vegetation, which leads to the global phenomenon of UHIE. Hence, it is necessary to prioritize areas where urban population growth and socially disadvantaged groups intersect with extreme heat as we have limited capacity to mitigate the effects of urban extreme heat exposure. This chapter presents a theoretical approach that includes the discussion of the problem of UHIE, its causes, and the factors influencing its impact on human health. It is important to note that excessive heat exposure is linked to several health problems such as: heat strokes, dehydration, and decreased productivity. The severity of urban heat islands (UHIs) is affected by several factors, as described in 2015 by Norton (Landsc Urban Plan 134:127–138, 2015), which are: heat exposure, vulnerability, and behaviour exposure. Moreover, the chapter highlights strategies for mitigating high temperatures in cities such as the use of reflective or permeable and water retaining materials, urban green coverage, water bodies, optimizing urban geometry, etc. Furthermore, the cooling effect of the suggested mitigation strategies is presented in different climatic zones. Finally, the chapter furnishes the readers with a full comprehension of UHIE and its impacts and suggests ways to surmount such effect in cities and urban areas.