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Abstract
Urban green spaces are considered an appropriate way to reduce urban heat island effects
and provide comfort to the nearby occupants. In addition to cooling the actual space,
urban green spaces are also able to influence the surrounding area, and this phenomenon
is called the urban green space cooling effect. The most important issues with regard
to the cooling effects of urban green spaces are the intensity and density of the
cooling, which can play a major role for urban designers and planners in dealing with
urban heat island. This article reviews the latest studies that have examined the
cooling effects of urban green spaces in recent years. Based on the method of evaluation
of their samples, the studies are divided into three groups. The first category consists
of research into a set of urban green spaces in one part of or in an entire city,
mainly conducted through remote sensing and satellite maps. The second category investigates
city parks or several urban parks with recognizable shapes and locations. In this
section, information was mainly gathered by virtue of field observations. The third
category relates to studies in which a part of urban space according to different
scenarios of green space placement was modeled by simulation. The results of the present
study illustrate that the highest cooling effect distance and cooling effect intensity
are for large urban parks with an area of more than 10 ha; however, in addition to
the area, the natural elements and qualities of the urban green spaces, as well as
climate characteristics, highly inform the urban green space cooling effect.