Thermal Environment Change of Fuzhou City with Rapid Urbanization

Abstract:

Fujian Province is the first ‘national ecological civilization experimental zone’ approved by the State Council of China. As the provincial capital, a good ecological environment for Fuzhou City is always expected. With the progress of urbanization, Fuzhou has witnessed a significant urban thermal environment (UTE) change, leading the city to be reputed by media as the top of the three new ‘furnace cities’ in China. To investigate the process of the city from a non-furnace city to a top furnace city in China, the dynamics of urban biophysical components of Fuzhou and the associated UTE between 1989 and 2013 have been analyzed by remote sensing technology. The result shows that the urban heat island (UHI) effect in Fuzhou greatly aggravates as the UHI Ratio Index (URI) of the city increases from 0.29 to 0.53 in the past 24 years. The spatiotemporal variation analysis on the basis of the thermal profiles reveals that the spatial structure of the UTE is greatly influenced by the spatial pattern of land cover types. On the whole, the increase and amalgamation of impervious surface patches, reduction and fragmentation of vegetation and water covers, and the blockage of the urban ventilation are the main factors contributing to the formation of the ‘furnace city’ of Fuzhou. The study provides a guidance and support for the mitigation of the UHI effect and the achievement of city’s healthy sustainable development.