Investigating Urban Growth Dynamic – Land Surface Temperature Relationship

According to the United Nations, 68% of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050. This makes urban growth one of the cornerstones of sustainable development policies that must be implemented from the outset. Well-managed urbanization is essential to minimize environmental degradation and land use, while maximizing the benefits of agglomeration and ensuring the expected well-being of all city dwellers. On the other hand, it is equally important that these growth dynamics interface systematically with ongoing climate change and its expected effects on the urban environment. Local climate regulation is a crucial urban ecosystem service as it directly affects the quality of urban life. Although its link with soil sealing and land-use change is theoretically known, it is worth explaining this relationship in terms of significant parameters of both altered surfaces and type of urban expansion. This paper simultaneously analyzes the artificial soils dynamics transformation and land surface temperatures (LST) time series derived by MODIS satellites in a study area, the Basilicata region, widely affected by urban sprinkling and a marked depopulation. Our results show a strong relationship between the increase in recorded minimum temperatures and the expansion of urban areas, especially where the main growth dynamic is compaction.