Quantifying the benefits of parks for mitigating heat, air and noise pollution to inform climate-resilient planning

Urban parks play a key role in cooling cities and influencing local air quality by providing areas of reduced exposure to pollution sources, alongside local pollution deposition and dispersion effects. However, contemporary practices in designing and managing parks do not specifically plan for these benefits. The present work examines the role of urban parks in providing cooling, human thermal comfort, and reducing air and noise pollution. Using high-frequency mobile monitoring of meteorological variables, air pollutants, and noise levels during summer, measurements were conducted three times per day (morning, afternoon, and evening) to compare a park with the adjacent built environment. Measurements were supplemented by three stationary monitoring points to compare the effect of grassland and tree shade on human thermal comfort. We found that air temperatures cooled by 0.2 °C for every 100 m distance from the edge toward the centre of the park and more than 0.5 °C warming for every 100 m distance from the edge of the park into the adjacent built-up area, with these trends observed up to 300 m. In the evening, PM10 (1.63 μg/m3), PM2.5 (0.17 μg/m3), and PM1 (0.2 μg/m3) concentrations increased per 100 m distance from the park edge into the built-up area. Noise levels declined consistently by 3.4 dB per 100 m from the park edge toward the built-up area. Linear mixed-effects models confirmed that parks consistently reduced air temperature and CO2 levels compared to built-up areas, with the strongest temporal effects in the afternoon, whereas location effects on PM levels were not statistically significant, though distance-based analyses indicated localised and time dependent gradients. Thermal comfort analysis showed greater reductions in Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) under tree-shaded areas than in grassland, with paired t-tests indicating significant differences compared to the built-up area, particularly in the afternoon. Presenting the environmental benefits per unit of distance makes the results presented here relevant for professionals who are interested in developing effective heat-, noise- and pollution-responsive urban landscape design, while indicating spatial variability in air quality responses. Such an evidence-based approach can lead to greater community benefits and thus improved resilience of cities.