Applying RS and GIS to Study the Impacts of Urban Regeneration on Thermal Environment in Built-Up Areas: A Case Study of Kowloon, Hong Kong

Land use/Land cover (LULC) change is one of the key reasons for the Urban Heat Island (UHI) dynamic. Previous studies focused on the relationship of urban sprawl and emergence of UHI; but, less attention was paid to how urban regeneration progress influences the thermal environment in built-up regions. In this paper, a comparative study of Kowloon, Kuwn Tong and Kwai Tsing was conducted on the LULC and Urban Heat Island Intensity (UHII) in 2000 and 2010. The study investigated the effect of urban regeneration progress on thermal behavior of the built-up environment. Landsat 7 ETM+ data was used to retrieve the UHII of the two periods in the study area. A spatial quantitative analysis was made through the integration of Remote Sensing (RS) and the Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis tool. The results presented an evident enhancement of UHI in Kowloon East within the 10 years of urban development. The study results provides reference to optimize the master plan of Kowloon East and contribute to the innovative thinking in applying scientific methods to support the decision-making in urban regeneration schemes to avoid environmental issues that the urban regeneration process may bring about.