Article Title

Urban heat islands (UHI) mitigation in densely urban city of Tirana, Albania: Materials, energy, comfort

Authors

Sokol Dervishi, EPOKA UniversityFollow
Eltjona Lacaj, EPOKA University
Regina Vathi, EPOKA University

Keywords

Urban heat island, Mitigation, Materials, Vegetation, Global warming

Abstract

Urban Heat Island (UHI) is considered as one of the major problems in the 21st century as a result of urbanization and industrialization of human civilization. The urban structures generate a large amount of heat from solar radiations and other sources (i.e. anthropogenic heat). This situation is even worse in cities with high density and large population and extensive economic activities, Tirana, a densely urbanized city, is seriously facing this problem. In this context, the present paper is a review article aiming to present the actual state of the art on the development and the assessment of potential benefits (i.e. materials with high solar reflectance, urban vegetation) as UHI mitigation strategies for buildings and urban structures in Tirana, Albania. The analysis shows that the limited urban vegetation and inner-city neighborhoods structures are those ones in which the hazard potential of the UHI effect is shown to be the greatest. These neighborhoods have limited open space for tree planting and green area and therefore a lower maximum potential benefit. During the warming of the climate these neighborhoods face the greater consequences due to interactions between the UHI effect and global climate change. The results show that implementations of different strategies of urban heat island (UHI) mitigation can reduce negative impacts of hazards in cities, including overheating due to elevated temperatures, air pollution and associated public health effects. Such strategies also can lower the demand for air-conditioning-related energy production; reduce the effects of urban heat island and ultimately living in a better environment.

DOI

10.33107/ijbte.2012.1.1.06

First Page

48

Last Page

57

Recommended Citation

Dervishi, Sokol; Lacaj, Eltjona; and Vathi, Regina (2012) "Urban heat islands (UHI) mitigation in densely urban city of Tirana, Albania: Materials, energy, comfort," International Journal of Business and Technology: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 6.
DOI: 10.33107/ijbte.2012.1.1.06
Available at: https://knowledgecenter.ubt-uni.net/ijbte/vol1/iss1/6