Journal article
Neighborhood disparities in land surface temperature and the role of the built environment: Evidence from a major Chinese City
Urban climate, v 65, 102805
Feb 2026
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Abstract
In developed countries, lower socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods often disproportionately bear harm from heat exposures, a disparity partially caused by disparities in the built environment characterized by green space and urban form. However, these disparities have been studied in few Chinese cities. Here, we investigated these disparities using a sample of 1344 neighborhoods in Zhengzhou, a major city in China. We found that a 1-million-Chinese Yuan increase in housing price (proxy for SES due to data scarcity) was associated with 0.05–0.62 °C lower daytime land surface temperature (LST, estimates varied by city-wide temperature), signaling heat exposure disparity. The same increase in housing price was associated with 7.52% and 1.11% lower coverage of compact buildings and large low-rise buildings, but 2.37% higher green space cover. These changes in the built environment associated with housing prices together translated to −0.41 to 0.05 °C change in daytime LST (indirect effect). The indirect effects were stronger and consistently negative in warmer temperatures (e.g., when temperature ≥ 35 °C, the indirect effect was −0.14 to −0.41 °C), which were associated with greater heat exposure disparities. It is therefore recommended to plan and design equitable green space and urban form that alleviate heat exposure and its disparities.
•We studied the association between housing price and neighborhood land surface temperature (LST).•1-million-CNY increase in housing price was associated with 0.05–0.62 °C lower daytime LST.•Unequally distributed built environment exacerbates disparities in daytime LST.•Disparities in daytime LST and the exacerbation from the built environment are stronger in warmer temperatures.
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Details
- Title
- Neighborhood disparities in land surface temperature and the role of the built environment: Evidence from a major Chinese City
- Creators
- Yang Ju (Corresponding Author) - Nanjing UniversityHuiyan Shang - East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Rd., Shanghai 200237, ChinaYing Liang - Nanjing UniversityJiangang Xu - Nanjing UniversityYu Huang - School of International Affairs and Public Administration, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, ChinaJinglu Song - Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool UniversityYiwen Wang - Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, No. 168 Jianye Rd., Nanjing 210004, ChinaMaryia Bakhtsiyarava - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Urban climate, v 65, 102805
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 14
- Grant note
- National Natural Science Foundation of China: 52178043 Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province: BK20230792
This work is supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 42301238) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (grant no. BK20230792) awarded to Y.J. J.X. receives funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 52178043) .
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative; Environmental and Occupational Health
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001678750700001
- Other Identifier
- 991022157469704721