Canada is warming at double the rate of the global average caused in part to a fast-growing population and large land transformations, where urban surfaces contribute significantly to the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. The federal government released the strengthened climate plan in 2020, which emphasizes using nature-based solutions (NBSs) to combat the effects of UHI phenomenon. Here, the effects of two NBSs techniques are reviewed and analysed: increasing surface greenery/vegetation (ISG) and increasing surface reflectivity (ISR). Policymakers have the challenge of selecting appropriate NBSs to meet a wide range of objectives within the urban environment and Canadian-specific knowledge of how NBSs can perform at various scales is lacking. As such, this state-of-the-art review intends to provide a snapshot of the current understanding of the benefits and risks associated with the implantation of NBSs in urban spaces as well as a review of the current techniques used to model, and evaluate the potential effectiveness of UHI under evolving climate conditions. Thus, if NBSs are to be adopted to mitigate UHI effects and extreme summertime temperatures in Canadian municipalities, an integrated, comprehensive analysis of their contributions is needed. As such, developing methods to quantify and evaluate NBSs’ performance and tools for the effective implementation of NBSs are required.

Abhishek Gaur (Construction Research Centre, National Research Council Canada), Henry Lu (Construction Research Centre, National Research Council Canada), Abdelaziz Laouadi (Construction Research Centre, National Research Council Canada), Hua Ge (Department of Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Concordia University), Liangzhu Wang (Department of Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Concordia University)

Hayes, A. T., Jandaghian, Z., Lacasse, M. A., Gaur, A., Lu, H., Laouadi, A., Ge, H., & Wang, L. (2022). Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) to Mitigate Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effects in Canadian Cities. Buildings, 12(7), 925. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12070925