Ontology-based knowledge representation of urban heat island mitigation strategies

Abstract

Previous studies have presented numerous urban heat island mitigation strategies (UHIMSs) and have clearly demonstrated their effectiveness. However, the lack of a prototype for representing the uncharacterised UHIMS and the absence of a link between UHI mitigation techniques and urban contexts, make it challenging to understand and manage UHIMS. To fill these gaps, this study proposes an ontology-based representation of UHIMS with a particular emphasis on the relationship between UHI mitigation techniques, performance metrics and urban contexts. Our representation is structured with three steps: the conceptualisation of terminologies, the establishment of relationships and the integration. Consequently, a prototype for the UHIMS representation is introduced covering the use of ‘UHIM techniques’ having ‘Planning and design variables’ on ‘The place of application’ to address ‘UHI problems’ in ‘Urban settings’ with the evaluation by ‘Performance metrics’. Meanwhile, a three-step framework is developed to facilitate the application of the prototype and is subsequently validated by a case example. The significance of UHIMS representation is to understand and systematically manage UHIMS knowledge, thereby further supporting performance evaluation and governmental decisions for urban heat island mitigation.