IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i14p6618-d1705622.html

Comprehensive Impact of Different Urban Form Indices on Land Surface Temperature and PM2.5 Pollution in Summer and Winter, Based on Urban Functional Zones: A Case Study of Taiyuan City

Author

Listed:
  • Wenyu Zhao

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Le Xuan

    (School of Architecture and Fine Art, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Wenru Li

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China)

  • Wei Wang

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China)

  • Xuhui Wang

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang 712100, China)

Abstract

Urban form plays a crucial role in regulating urban thermal environments and air pollution patterns. However, the indirect mechanisms through which urban form influences PM2.5 concentrations via land surface temperature (LST) remain poorly understood. This study investigates these pathways by analyzing representative two- and three-dimensional urban form indices (UFIs) in the central urban area of Taiyuan, China. Multiple log-linear regression and mediation analysis were applied to evaluate the combined effects of urban form on LST and PM2.5. The results indicate that UFIs significantly influence both LST and PM2.5. The frontal area index (FAI) and sky view factor (SVF) emerged as key variables, with LST playing a significant mediating role. The indirect pathways affecting PM2.5 via LST, along with the direct LST-PM2.5 correlation, exhibit pronounced seasonal differences in direction and intensity. Moreover, different urban functional zones exhibit heterogeneous responses to the same form indices, highlighting the spatial variability of these linkages. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating seasonal and spatial differences into urban design. Accordingly, this study proposes targeted urban form optimization strategies to improve air quality and thermal comfort, offering theoretical insights and practical guidance for sustainable urban planning.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenyu Zhao & Le Xuan & Wenru Li & Wei Wang & Xuhui Wang, 2025. "Comprehensive Impact of Different Urban Form Indices on Land Surface Temperature and PM2.5 Pollution in Summer and Winter, Based on Urban Functional Zones: A Case Study of Taiyuan City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-26, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:14:p:6618-:d:1705622
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/14/6618/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/14/6618/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jiao Xue & Ruoyu You & Wei Liu & Chun Chen & Dayi Lai, 2020. "Applications of Local Climate Zone Classification Scheme to Improve Urban Sustainability: A Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Peng Cui & Chunyu Dai & Jun Zhang & Tingting Li, 2022. "Assessing the Effects of Urban Morphology Parameters on PM 2.5 Distribution in Northeast China Based on Gradient Boosted Regression Trees Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, February.
    3. Jiannan Wu & Pan Zhang & Hongtao Yi & Zhao Qin, 2016. "What Causes Haze Pollution? An Empirical Study of PM 2.5 Concentrations in Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Chien-Yuan Kuo & Chun-Ta Tzeng & Ming-Chin Ho & Chi-Ming Lai, 2015. "Wind Tunnel Studies of a Pedestrian-Level Wind Environment in a Street Canyon between a High-Rise Building with a Podium and Low-Level Attached Houses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-16, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ainun Hasanah & Jing Wu, 2025. "Bibliometric analysis and global research trends of climate change and cities studies for 30 years (1990–2021)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 5573-5617, March.
    2. Jingchao, Zhang & Kotani, Koji & Saijo, Tatsuyoshi, 2018. "Public acceptance of environmentally friendly heating in Beijing: A case of a low temperature air source heat pump," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 75-85.
    3. Yajie Liu & Feng Dong, 2020. "Corruption, Economic Development and Haze Pollution: Evidence from 139 Global Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-22, April.
    4. Zeng, Jingjing & Liu, Ting & Feiock, Richard & Li, Fei, 2019. "The impacts of China's provincial energy policies on major air pollutants: A spatial econometric analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 392-403.
    5. Zhang, Pan, 2019. "Do energy intensity targets matter for wind energy development? Identifying their heterogeneous effects in Chinese provinces with different wind resources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 968-975.
    6. Anand, Y. & Gupta, A. & Tyagi, S.K. & Anand, S., 2016. "Computational fluid dynamics, a building simulation tool for achieving sustainable buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1174-1185.
    7. Wenbo Chen & Fuqing Zhang & Saiwei Luo & Taojie Lu & Jiao Zheng & Lei He, 2022. "Three-Dimensional Landscape Pattern Characteristics of Land Function Zones and Their Influence on PM 2.5 Based on LUR Model in the Central Urban Area of Nanchang City, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-18, September.
    8. Xiaoyu Ying & Yanling Wang & Wenzhe Li & Ziqiao Liu & Grace Ding, 2020. "Group Layout Pattern and Outdoor Wind Environment of Enclosed Office Buildings in Hangzhou," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.
    9. Umberto Berardi & Yupeng Wang, 2016. "The Effect of a Denser City over the Urban Microclimate: The Case of Toronto," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-11, August.
    10. Zhao, Yi & Li, Ruibin & Feng, Lu & Wu, Yan & Niu, Jianlei & Gao, Naiping, 2022. "Boundary layer wind tunnel tests of outdoor airflow field around urban buildings: A review of methods and status," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    11. Yu Song & Bingrui Liu & Xiaohong Chen & Jia Liu, 2020. "Atmospheric Pollution Mapping of the Yangtze River Basin: An AQI-Based Weighted Co-Word Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, January.
    12. Marianna Nardino & Letizia Cremonini & Teodoro Georgiadis & Emanuele Mandanici & Gabriele Bitelli, 2021. "Microclimate Classification of Bologna (Italy) as a Support Tool for Urban Services and Regeneration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-18, May.
    13. Pavel Ichim & Lucian Sfîcă, 2020. "The Influence of Urban Climate on Bioclimatic Conditions in the City of Iași, Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-18, November.
    14. Chien-Yuan Kuo & Rong-Jing Wang & Yi-Pin Lin & Chi-Ming Lai, 2020. "Urban Design with the Wind: Pedestrian-Level Wind Field in the Street Canyons Downstream of Parallel High-Rise Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, June.
    15. Jangyoul You & Changhee Lee, 2021. "Experimental Study on the Effects of Aspect Ratio on the Wind Pressure Coefficient of Piloti Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, May.
    16. Yao, Wanxiang & Zheng, Zhimiao & Zhao, Jun & Wang, Xiao & Wang, Yan & Li, Xianli & Fu, Jidong, 2020. "The factor analysis of fog and haze under the coupling of multiple factors -- taking four Chinese cities as an example," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    17. Binxu Zhai & Jianguo Chen & Wenwen Yin & Zhongliang Huang, 2018. "Relevance Analysis on the Variety Characteristics of PM 2.5 Concentrations in Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, September.
    18. Huan Wang & Zhenyu Chen & Pan Zhang, 2022. "Spatial Autocorrelation and Temporal Convergence of PM 2.5 Concentrations in Chinese Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-11, October.
    19. Huiling Wang & Fei Sun & Junming Su & Sanchir Bold & Mansoor Ahmed Koondhar, 2025. "Mapping research trends and identifying missing research gaps in green environment and public health: a bibliometric analysis for 2003–2021," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 3343-3372, February.
    20. Pan Zhang & Jiannan Wu, 2018. "Performance-Based or Politic-Related Decomposition of Environmental Targets: A Multilevel Analysis in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:14:p:6618-:d:1705622. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.