Page 247 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Aynur Güneş Yilmaz - Onur Beyazoğlu
Bayram Hopur - Emre Yavuz

1. Introduction

According to the 2023 World Population Report, approximately 56% of the
world’s population, which has reached 8 billion, lives in cities. This number
is expected to continue rising rapidly, and according to United Nations
projections, it is estimated that by 2050, approximately 68% of the global
population will live in cities (UNFPA, 2023).
One of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the “Sustainable
Cities and Communities Goal” underlines increasing access to green spaces
in cities as part of the fight against climate change by addressing urbanization
through participatory, integrated, and sustainable settlement planning and
management.
The environmental and microclimatic effects of global warming and climate
change are experienced stronger particularly in densely urbanized areas.
Especially due to intense urban development, changes in urban morphology,
the increase in impervious surfaces due to the reduction of green spaces are
contributing to the formation of urban heat islands.
The Urban Heat Island (UHI) is one of the best-known forms of local
anthropogenic climate change and is briefly defined as the phenomenon
where the temperature within a city is simultaneously higher than that of
the surrounding rural areas (Yüksel and Yılmaz, 2008). As a result of UHI,
urban centers become warmer compared to the surrounding rural areas.
This situation results in increased energy consumption due to the use of air
conditioners, coolers, and ventilation systems, which in turn both increases
economic costs and harms public health. One of the solutions that has
emerged in the search for a solution to this problem is afforestation activities
carried out in urban environments. Trees play a strategic role in reducing the
Urban Heat Island effect due to their benefits such as providing shade, cooling
through evaporation, and improving air quality (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Land use - Heat change relationship (Civelek, 2024)

234 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate