Investigating micro-climatic effects of urban green spaces; the case of Izmir-Bornova

Due to accelerated urbanization and human activities resulting from the Industrial Revolution, urban landscapes and climate have undergone a change. As a result of this change, an urban heat island (UHI) problem has occurred in urban landscapes, where cities are displaying a difference in terms of climate from the rural areas in their immediate vicinity, due to the rising temperatures. It is obvious that urban heat island problem resulted from the changes in the canopy layer climate in urban landscapes. In this way, the present study is examining the relationships between the climate components and urban green spaces that function as control parameter in decreasing of urban temperatures based on real-time data. These relationships have been analyzed based on various factors in the context of an urban district in the city of Bornova that contains 3 large urban green spaces and their immediate vicinity. In this study, the meteorological conditions of the green spaces and their spheres of influence have been analyzed using permanent and mobile station measurements, which are among the methods used for the determination of urban canopy layer climate conditions. The meteorological data collected from these measurements has been evaluated with the help of statistical analyses. Based on these evaluations, one of the major findings is that the urban temperatures are affected by green spaces in different degrees depending upon their own features as well as the characteristics of the built-up areas. In conclusion, various recommendations in terms of planning and design considerations, and legal and managerial aspects have been presented both for further studies and developing urban climate maps.