Chapter 8 Land use and socioeconomic interventions in the production of urban climate: Day and night thermal effects in a continental tropical city

Abstract

In order to contribute to the understanding of urban climate and regarding the Sustainable Developing Goals of the 2030 Agenda, this research aims to investigate the physical factors of climatic genesis integrating social dimension in the analysis. The study was conducted in Presidente Prudente, a medium-sized city, located west of Sao Paulo State (Brazil), in the latitude of the Tropic of Capricorn. Based on Remote Sensing data and techniques, day and nighttime images from the Landsat 8 satellite became possible to detect the thermal responses of urban surfaces considering thermal inertia, as in a daily cicle. The results showed that levels of urban heating/cooling are unequal distributed in relation to socioeconomic aspects: higher daytime and lower nighttime surface temperatures, lack of vegetation and inadequate construction materials are associated with the segment with little/no condition of climate adaptation and resilience. Therefore, different patterns of vulnerability highlight the need to consider structural inequality, in addition to cultural and natural landscape aspects, in elaborating more efficient solutions for climate issues.