Application of Technology in Mitigating Future Environmental Impacts in Rapidly Growing Urban Areas: An Investigation of the Urban Heat Island Effect in Downtown Austin, Texas

Niloufar Karimipour (University of Texas at Austin)

Given growing concerns about future environmental impacts of urban developments, there have been many discussion about application of technology in forecasting such impacts to be able to mitigate the negativeeffects. Austin has been rapidly growing and densifying during the past decade and is know as one of the fast-growing cities in the United States where new constructions are appearing every where around the city. Located in a hot and sub-humid region, how such developments will alter the climate and specifically city's outdoor lifestyle in the future should be considered. This research aimed to document the principal factors contributing to the formation of UHIs and assess how urban design parameters can be modified to prevent or mitigate UHIs. This study characterizes the impact of the future development proposed for the downtown area in the Downtown Austin Plan (DAP), and how simulation models can help projecting such effect. In order to study magnitude of the UHIs, Urban Weather Generator (UWG) was used to simulate the UHI over Downtown in 2020 and 2039 (at the end of the implementation of Downtown Austin Plan). Finally, this study proposes an urban design solution to mitigate Austin’s intensifying UHI.