The role of green and blue spaces in urban climate regulation. A case study in the city of Coimbra (Portugal)

The rapid process of urbanization has caused drastic changes in land use in urban spaces. As a result, there is an increase in temperatures inside cities (urban heat island). Thus, one of the best solutions to mitigate this increase in temperatures is the implementation of green and blue spaces, as these are of great importance in the reduction of temperatures and in the quality of life of the citizens. It is in this sense that this article is developed, to understand the contribution of green and blue spaces to sustainable urban planning and resilience to climate change. Using data loggers, temperature data was collected to compare three different seasons of the year (winter, spring and summer), and also three times of the day (morning, afternoon and night). For this, four green spaces in the city of Coimbra were selected, namely, Parque Verde do Mondego (left and right bank), Parque Dr. Manuel Braga and Parque da Cancao, and also on the Mondego River. Vegetation is found to play a role in mitigating the urban climate, with varying temperatures observed in green spaces (generally cooler) and spaces with limited vegetation, such as Parque da Cancao. In the river, it is verified, at various times of the day, the influence of the surrounding infrastructure (concrete wall), causing the downstream sector to register higher temperatures than upstream. It is also visible the influence that it has on the attenuation of temperatures on its banks.