Uploaded on 2016-04-14 by vincentgiraud

At midnight, the downtown area (near where I live) reaches 28.5°C versus planted area like Lim Chu Kang reporting 24°C. This information is highlighted in a chart produced by the National University of Singapore: ![NUS UHI chart][1] Here are two photos I took illustrating this phenomenon: ![Kranji country side Heritage Trail][2] Kranji is a farming area with a lot of trees and wetlands, less solar heat is reflected and transferred by the greenery. ![Tyrwhitt road urban area][3] On the other hand, Tyrwhitt road (near downtown) where I live is highly urbanised, many building near to each other (without roof/sky-rise gardens), roads with traffic and dense human activiy all contributing to the greenhouse effect. - Which are the measures you would propose? To mitigate we could add rooftop gardens, and vertical vegetation wherever possible and especially on dark hard surfaces. Adding a few small parks and trees along roads that are not sheltered from the sun at the hottest time of the day. Finally educating the public (and brick and mortar businesses) on mindful usage of air-conditioning and easiness of using the public transport on the week end is a nice addition. - Is UHI effect concerning policy making in your area? Singapore has already proposed and applied some policies targeting public and engineering. We can see more vertical landscaping covering new low-energy buildings with rooftop gardens. Some areas have living laboratories in order to test innovation in the field. There are plans for waterways throughout the city and additional reservoirs or vegetated areas. Reducing the building height and its geometry to optimize the wind flow in the CBD has contributed to reduce the temperature by 0.7°C. Simulations revealed that changing some facades from darker to lighter can reduce up to 7.5% the need for cooling. [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14606154415777903.gif [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14606153576045804.jpg [3]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14606155147461796.jpg