Residential heat environment in relation to blue-green space sustainability in Beijing, China

The impacts of blue-green space (BGS) dynamics on the heat environment have been widely explored at the urban scale, but less discussed at the community scale. In addition, the direct effect of BGS sustainability on the heat environment was unclear. This study examined this impact using high-resolution BGS classification and land surface temperature (LST) maps for 2013 and 2019. Results showed that BGS coverage in urban Beijing increased by 4.22 % from 2013 to 2019, with 70.94 % of this increase occurring inside the residential boundary and adjacent 300 m buffer zone. BGS sustainability was 75.31 % inside residential boundary, and 71.73 % in the 300 m buffer zone. Effective heat risk reduction required both net increase and sustainability of BGS. BGS in the 300 m buffer zone was more efficient in cooling and its unsustainability increased the residential heat risk. The combination of blue and green spaces can contribute to a sustainable BGS landscape. These findings provided new evidence for the impact of BGS on LST dynamics and offer new insights into BGS-based community heat adaptation.