Spatial differentiation and potential influencing factors of land-surface heat exposure based on street-view imagery: a case study of Luolong District, Luoyang
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction: Against the backdrop of increasingly frequent extreme heat events, mitigating land-surface heat exposure on urban streets is crucial for safeguarding public health. Existing studies have often overlooked the spatially differentiated effects of complex street environments on land-surface heat exposure and the associated cooling thresholds. Therefore, this study takes Luolong District, Luoyang, as a case study to investigate the spatially heterogeneous effects and nonlinear threshold characteristics of street-view metrics on land-surface heat exposure. Methods: This study integrates Baidu Street View imagery with multi-source spatial data and employs Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) and the XGBoost-SHAP model to systematically investigate the spatially heterogeneous effects and nonlinear threshold characteristics of micro-scale street-view metrics on land-surface heat exposure, and proposes differentiated optimization strategies accordingly. Results: First, the effects of street morphology on land-surface heat exposure exhibit significant spatial multi-scale differentiation. Road proportion (RDP) and sidewalk proportion (SWP) operate predominantly at the micro scale, whereas the Green View Index (GVI) and Building Coverage Ratio (BCR) exhibit predominantly meso-scale effects; in contrast, the Sky View Factor (SVF) and Enclosure (ENC) demonstrate predominantly macro-scale effects. Second, nonlinear "threshold effects" and saturation points are generally observed between individual street-view metrics and land-surface heat exposure. For example, the cooling benefits of GVI are subject to an upper limit, whereas excessively high SVF values exhibit a strong positive association with increased land-surface heat exposure. Third, the risk classification and targeted renewal strategies developed based on a "current condition-sensitivity matrix" can effectively mitigate localized land-surface heat exposure across streets with different functional characteristics. Discussion: This study provides scientific decision-making support for the fine-grained renewal of high-density urban living environments and climate-adaptive urban governance.
Source: Frontiers in Public Health
Authors: Junhui Hu, Xinyao Zhang, Danfeng Liu, Luyao Chen
Institution: Henan University of Science and Technology
Language: English
Topic: Urban Heat Island Mitigation
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7220831554