Zooming into temperature conditions in the city of Leipzig: How do urban built and green structures influence earth surface temperatures in the city? Nicole Weber a , Dagmar Haase a,b,c, ⁎, Ulrich Franck b,c a Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Department of Geography, Lab for Landscape Ecology, Rudower Chaussee 16, 12489 Berlin, Germany b Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research — UFZ, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Department of Environmental Immunology, Permoser Straße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany c Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research — UFZ, Department of Environmental Immunology, Permoser Straße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany HIGHLIGHTS • Urban land-use structure was found to have a significant impact on environmental exposures. • Main fields of impact are the level and spatial distribution of heat exposure in cities. • Multiple urban structures have been quantified using the landscape metrics approach. • Edge density and patch size ratio are significantly correlated with urban temperatures. • The higher proportion/structural complexity of built area, the higher are surface temperatures. abstract article info Article history: Received 12 May 2014 Received in revised form 23 June 2014 Accepted 26 June 2014 Available online xxxx Editor: P. Kassomenos Keywords: Urban structures Landscape metrics Height of building Surface temperatures Linear regression Leipzig Urban landscape and land-use structure, particularly that of built space, were found to have a significant impact on environmental exposures, e.g., on the level and spatial distribution of particle and noise exposure in cities. Cli- mate change will increase the frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves. Hence, the question arises: how do urban structures affect the shape and intensity of urban temperature conditions? To answer this question, multiple urban structures have been quantified in terms of their structural patterns and configuration using the landscape metric (LSM) approach. The results of a linear regression analysis showed that both the edge den- sity and patch size ratio are significantly correlated with the spread and intensity of temperatures across all urban built structures. The analysis shows that the higher the proportion and structural complexity of the built area, the higher are the morning and evening surface temperatures. LSMs were found to be very well suited as analysis models of the site-specific temperature impact beyond the aggregate city level. Hence, they may serve as a planning tool for urban adaptation measures to climate change. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Urban areas are affected by higher surface and air temperatures than their surrounding environments and thus negatively impact human health (Stewart and Oke, 2012). Despite the existence of urban green spaces, which have lower air temperatures and provide shadow, air ventilation and humidity (Kube, 2012), recent climate change has led to increasing mean temperatures, frequencies and durations of temper- ature extremes in cities, as well as heat waves, with increasing maxi- mum temperatures (Bulkeley, 2013; Franck et al., 2013; Kan et al., 2012). In the study area of this paper, the city of Leipzig in western Saxony, Germany, climate change so far has resulted in an increase of 0.7 K in the annual mean air temperature and an increase of 1.3 K in the maximum temperature, comparing the periods 1961–2005 and 1991–2005 (Saxony Ministry of State of Environment Agriculture SMUL, 2008 cited in Franck et al., 2013). Enke (2001) predicts a 3–4K increase in the mean temperature for the city of Leipzig by 2060. The studies of Conti et al. (2005), Gabriel and Endlicher (2011), Martiello and Giacchi (2010), O'Neill and Ebi (2009), and Tan et al. (2010) illus- trate that human well-being and health are adversely affected by rising outdoor temperatures. Surface temperatures and above ground air tem- peratures are not identical, but strongly correlated (McPherson et al., 1997; Mostovoy et al., 2006; Prihodko and Goward, 1997; Stewart, 2011). Science of the Total Environment 496 (2014) 289–298 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Department of Geography, Lab for Landscape Ecology, Rudower Chaussee 16, 12489 Berlin, Germany. E-mail address: dagmar.haase@geo.hu-berlin.de (D. Haase). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.144 0048-9697/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv