Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

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Urban Climate
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/uclim

Urban form and population density: Influences on Urban Heat

T
Island intensities in Bogotá, Colombia
⁎
Edwin Alejandro Ramírez-Aguilar , Léa Cristina Lucas Souza
Postgraduate Program in Urban Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luis, Km 235, Área Norte, São Carlos, São Paulo,
Brazil

A R T IC LE I N F O ABS TRA CT

Keywords: This paper presents a study based on the relationship between Urban Heat Islands (UHI) and
Air temperature population size (p) by considering the Population Density (PD) and the urban form parameters of
Population density different neighbourhoods in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. The aim is to understand the influence
Urban Heat Island of the urban form, created by population concentration differences in the temperature of the city.
Meteorological stations
For this purpose, every month throughout one year, air temperature data (obtained from nine
Urban form
different urban meteorological stations) were sampled and statistically treated to which popu-
lation density could be respectively associated. The rural data were compared to the urban data
to extract temperature differences (ΔTu-r). Moreover, different variables of the land cover and
urban morphology were extracted and analysed in each neighbourhood around the stations.
Among the meteorological stations, there was a significant and highly positive relationship
among population density and thermal differences. In the same way, when finding which
parameters of the urban form have a better relationship with PD and ΔTu-r, the Sky View Factor
(SVF) and the Pervious Surface Fraction (PSF%) are highlighted. The results show that density
above 14,500 inhabitants/km2 may cause air temperature differences higher than 1 °C, greater
obstruction of the sky (SVF < 0.45) and a larger decrease in green areas and vegetation cover
(PSF% < 30). This paper concludes that urban form, expressed by land cover and urban mor-
phology changes, caused by population density, has a great effect on temperature differences
within the city of Bogotá.

1. Introduction

In tropical cities, the study of urban climates and their main phenomenon, the urban heat island (UHI), consisting of an increase in
air temperature in urban areas compared to the surrounding rural environment (Tzavali et al., 2015), have not yet been investigated
as much as in other parts of the world. According to Roth (2007), before 2006, no > 20% of urban climate studies were based on
these areas of the planet. Recently, there has been an upsurge in urban climate studies in the tropics, including at least 35 pub-
lications per year over the last two decades, but most of these studies have concentrated on East and South of Asia (Giridharan and
Emmanuel, 2018; Kotharkar et al., 2018). In the case of Latin America, Sarricolea and Meseguer-Ruiz (2019) highlight Brazil and
Mexico, where major studies have been developed in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo and in Mexico City.
In the specific case of Colombia, according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies of Colombia
(IDEAM), the country seems to lack research related to climate, urban climate and climate change adaptation (Tercera Comunicación

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ealeramirez12@gmail.com (E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar), leacrist@ufscar.br (L.C. Lucas Souza).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2019.100497
Received 27 February 2019; Received in revised form 27 May 2019; Accepted 1 July 2019
2212-0955/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

nacional de Cambio Climático, 2016). Until 2015, research or case studies conducted in Colombia represented only 0.92% of the
world production. This is reflected in research based in Bogotá, highlighting only two studies about UHI over the last 50 years
(Sarricolea and Meseguer-Ruiz, 2019). The first one was done by Pabón et al. (1998), who identified that during the 1970s and 1980s
UHI was completely defined, significantly intense in the north and the highest intensity was found in the city centre. Similar results
can be found in Ángel et al. (2010), who stated that during the 1990s and 2000s there were air temperature increases in the north-
west of the city. These two studies focused on describing the UHI configuration over time, however the effect of the built environment
on air temperature and the UHI phenomenon in Bogotá have not yet been studied.
Developing countries and their cities, located mainly in the sub-tropical and tropical areas of the planet, have been characterised
by rapid urbanisation in recent years. This has caused urban outdoor spaces to be extremely vulnerable to changes in the local climate
and has increased climate change effects due to the absence of climate sensitive and sustainable urban planning (Hatuka and Saaroni,
2013; Giridharan and Emmanuel, 2018). All this helps to create environmental problems such as air pollution, UHI and floods,
showing that the current configuration of the developing cities, expressed in their urban morphology, is not the most appropriate
with the environment because it does not have a low impact (Touchaei and Wang, 2015). Therefore, there is a need to understand the
correlation between the spatial configuration and climatic condition of each city, as each climatic region needs a different config-
uration and urban form that helps to improve the thermal environment in the city (Golany, 1996). Due to this, there is a need for
comprehensive knowledge and a descriptive study of the urban heat island phenomenon in the city of Bogotá that should establish a
link or relationship among different indicators to understand the phenomenon of UHI in this city (Bai et al., 2018).
Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the relationship between the built environment and its population structure,
with the UHI intensity (ΔTu-r) of different city sectors of Bogotá, Colombia. In order to meet this aim, the study seeks to achieve the
following specific objectives;

• Develop a simple ΔT prediction model, based on the demographic parameter (population or population density) best correlated
u-r
with temperature differences within the city;
• Calculate and analyse urban form parameters (urban land cover, urban geometry and morphology), highlighting their effects on
ΔTu-r r and their relationship with population density.

1.1. Demographic variables

The urban population (p) refers to the number of inhabitants who reside in an urban area and can be a substitute or supplement
indicator of the physical structure of the city (Oke, 1973, 1976), because it is linked to an increased number of urban structures and
energy consumption (Santamouris, 2015) (Table 1). Several studies have shown that UHI intensity (ΔTu-r) increases proportionally to
the logarithm of the population (log p). Oke (1973) collected ΔTu-r data through a traverse route that included 10 settlements with

Table 1
Typical effects of the demographic variables and urban form parameters in ΔTu-r found in the literature with their physical causes expressed by Oke
(1982).
Typical empirical effect Causes

A. Demographic variables
1. Urban population (p) A high p is related to the increase in the number of buildings, transport systems and
ΔTu-r increases proportionally with log p or rapidly with industrial activities, which generates greater emission of sensible heat.
very high p values.
2. Population density (PD) High PD can suggest densely built areas with lower green areas (land use change),
UHI is strengthened with the increase of PD. characteristics that increase heat sensible storage and the anthropogenic heat source
generated in the combustion process of human activities.

B. Urban land cover parameters

1. Building Surface Fraction (BSF%)
High proportion BSF% causes rapid increases of ΔTu-r
2. Impervious Surface Fraction (ISF%)
Small proportions of ISF% are enough to increase ΔTu-r
3. Pervious Surface Fraction (PSF%)
A correct composition and configuration of pervious
surfaces helps to reduce ΔTu-r
Highly urbanized areas produce a general increase in the air temperature and contribute to
the reduction of the daily temperature range.
Impervious surfaces, with high thermal admittance, generate higher thermal emissions at
night, due to the heat absorbed and stored during the day
Vegetation and green areas have a great cooling effect since they can increase the
evapotranspiration process and help regulate the surface temperature.

C. Urban geometry and morphology parameters

1. Building Height (BH) The shade generated by the buildings reduces the amount of radiation during the day,
Increased BH has a positive effect on the reduction of air however the geometry of the buildings reduces the speed of the wind, which causes a
temperature in the urban environment reduction in the turbulent heat transport. This can cause an increase in ΔTu-r.
2. H/W ratio Deep urban cannons increase the absorption of short-wave radiation and are an obstruction
High values of H/W increase ΔTu-r at night for the long-wave radiation loss due to the multiple reflection of vertical and horizontal
surfaces.
3. Sky View Factor (SVF) The reduction of SVF decreases the long-wave radiation loss emitted by the surface of the
Generally, an inverse relationship between SVF and ΔTu-r is urban canyon at night, that is, it reduces the cooling process.
evidenced

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

nearby different populations in St. Lawrence Lowland in Quebec, Canada. The author concluded that the ΔTu-r has a strong re-
lationship with the size of the city and showed that settlements of over 1000 inhabitants may develop UHI (ΔTu-r > 1 °C). Oke
highlighted that this relationship has different scopes for North America and Europe. Similarly, Torok et al. (2001) studied the effect
of UHI intensity in four cities (p < 10,000) and Melbourne (p > 3 million) and found that the effect of UHI on cities is lower than in
European cities and North American cities. On the other hand, when studying the Nagano basin in Japan, Yasushi and Emi (2005)
also concluded that ΔTu-r is related to log p. Based on their research including 6 different cities and under different weather con-
ditions, the gradient of regression for fine nights was greater than those for other night conditions. In the city of Seoul in Korea, Park
(1986) found that the ΔTu-r increases gradually until reaching 300,000 inhabitants, and after this point, ΔTu-r increases rapidly.
The relationship between the number of inhabitants and the territory area in which they live can be understood as the population
density (PD) (Secretaría Distrital de Planeción and DANE, 2009) and may show the concentration and distribution of the urban
population and the urbanisation intensity within the city. Consequently, PD may suggest the morphological differences within the
urban structure. For instance, Kotharkar and Surawar (2016) show that in Nagpur, India areas with PD > 50,000 inhabitants/km2
have a good relationship with ΔTu-r, because they can strengthen the UHI phenomenon in the city. These areas are related to a greater
built area, smaller green area and have residential/commercial uses. Coutts et al. (2007) observed that when increasing PD, the night
air temperature increased notably in Melbourne. This increase is due to the fact that the increase in PD causes variations in urban
morphology, generating a more compact city and land cover changes, leading to greater heat storage in the urban area. Finally, the
importance of PD as a variable to understand the environmental impact of the city is explained by Sailor (2011), considering that PD
can be used as a metric to determine spatial variation in electrical use, and thus estimate energy consumption, similarly, the mag-
nitude of anthropogenic heat in a city depends on PD.

1.2. The urban land cover

Cities can be characterised by their urban form, which is shaped by the urban land cover, urban geometry and urban morphology.
In the first case, each land cover is related to an urban land use that describes a function (Oke et al., 2017) and alters the urban energy
balance (Table 1). The Building Surface Fraction (BSF%) describes the fraction of the urban land cover plan area occupied by
buildings (Built-up area) (Zheng et al., 2018). Studying the impact of BSF% in the cities of Szeged and Debrecen, Bottyán et al. (2005)
showed that the temperature decreases rapidly from the central area (BSF% = 86%) to more dispersed housing areas (BSF% = 20%
-50%). This indicates that higher BSF% causes rapid increases in the temperature. Similar results were found in Milan, Genoa and
Rome (Perini and Magliocco, 2014) where the BSF% values of 30% have lower temperatures than areas with BSF% of 50%. The
Impervious Surface Fraction (ISF%), characterised by materials found in streets and squares, is defined as the ratio of paved surfaces
area to the total urban land cover plan area, outside the buildings (Stewart and Oke, 2012). ISF% tends to have a strong linear
correlation with temperature increases. Coseo and Larsen (2014) highlight that ISF% is one of the parameters that better explains the
variations in the air temperature by 68% in the city of Chicago. These authors concluded that a rise in ISF% can increase the
temperature between 0.62 °C to 0.93 °C. Myint et al. (2010) shows that in cities such as Phoenix, with only an ISF% of 1.96%, the
temperature may have an increase of 0.5 °C.
BSF% and ISF% are surfaces that contribute to urban warming. On the contrary, surfaces such as green areas, parks and vegetation
cover help in urban surface cooling. The fraction of the area of these surfaces in relation to the total urban land cover plan area is
expressed in Pervious Surface Fraction (PSF%). Moreover, this cooling effect can be recognised in several studies. Wong and Yu
(2005) and Whitford et al. (2001) found green areas within the city with temperatures between 4 °C and 7 °C lower than other highly
urbanized areas. It seems that size is not a great determinant in the PSF% cooling potential. This is highlighted by Cheng et al. (2014),
who compared 39 parks in Shanghai, concluding that larger parks do not have a better thermal performance than smaller ones. Moon
et al. (2018) conclude the same for Seoul, highlighting that the configuration (form and location) of green areas is more important.

1.3. Urban morphology

The importance of urban morphology is that it expresses the spatial dimension of urban elements and helps to understand the
influence of urban geometry on the radiation exchange, air flow and air temperature in the city (Oke et al., 2017) (Table 1). The
Building Height (BH) affects the urban density, and therefore the city thermal climate (Kakon et al., 2010). The most important effect
occurs in high-rise buildings, having positive effects on the temperature reduction in the built environment (Feng and Myint, 2016).
This is shown by Perini and Magliocco (2014) in Milan, Genoa and Rome, finding that lower temperatures are obtained with
heights > 24 m. Kakon et al. (2010) shows that in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when increasing the number of floors (between 8 and 10) there
is a thermal reduction between 0.56 °C to 0.66 °C.
In cities, the urban canyon can be defined as the intra-urban geometric combination of vertical and horizontal surfaces (Nakata-
Osaki et al., 2018), the canyon depth is usually measured with the H/W ratio, which considers the height of the buildings (BH) in
relation to the distance between them (Width). H/W describes how tight the buildings are with respect to their heights (Goh and
Chang, 1999; Coseo and Larsen, 2014). The literature shows that at night the temperature increases along with H/W, thus the highest
temperatures are found in deeper canyons (H/W > 2) than in more shallow ones (H/W < 2) (Johansson, 2006; Bakarman and
Chang, 2015). The opposite effect happens during the day, where deep canyons are cooler when receiving less radiation (Emmanuel
and Johansson, 2006).
The Sky View Factor (SVF) represents the hemisphere fraction occupied by the sky available for heat exchange (Oke, 1981) and its
value varies from 0 to 1, where 0 represents the total obstruction of the sky and 1 a totally visible sky. The SVF greatly affects the

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

radiation exchange and is an important factor in the energy balance (Souza et al., 2010). Unger (2009), Wang and Akbari (2014)
report a negative relationship between SVF and temperature variations in the cities of Szeged and Montreal, respectively. However,
for these cases, a sufficiently clear relation was not found, and even, sometimes it can be contradictory (Gál et al., 2009; Souza et al.,
2010). Hien and Jusuf (2010) suggest that in some cases the air temperature at night no longer depends on the urban geometry, but
on other elements such as trees, which also cause low SVF values, but do not reduce the heat loss at night.

2. Method, materials and data collection

2.1. The study area, demographic and Urban Heat Island intensity data collection

The study area is the city of Bogotá in Colombia (Fig. 1), which is located on the eastern mountain range of the Andes Mountains,
within the savannah biome. The city is characterised by a flat topography in most of its area and is surrounded to the east by hills and
mountains and to the west by the Bogotá river and its wetlands. The total urban population is around of 7,900,000 inhabitants
(Secretaría Distrital de Planeción and DANE, 2009).
The source of information for collecting the air temperature data was the network of meteorological stations managed by IDEAM
(Instituto de Hidrología Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales, 2017) (the data is freely accessible at http://www.ideam.gov.co/
solicitud-de-informacion), located within the city and in the surrounding rural area of Bogotá. Nine stations (Table 2 - Fig. 1) of this
network were grouped into two classes: the first group corresponds to the sub-urban area stations and the second one to the urban
area stations. Furthermore, data were also obtained from two stations in the rural area. This study assumes that rural areas are those
where settlement or human intervention (buildings) is minimum, such as an agricultural area (Yasushi and Emi, 2005). Urban areas
are those where there is high development and where a significant population lives. Moreover, sub-urban areas are those where the
population is much smaller and are characterised by services and facilities, such as airports, industries and educational institutions.
It should be mentioned that the demographic data for the urban population (p) and urban population density (PD) were supplied
by the Bogotá Ministry of Planning (Secretaría Distrital de Planeción and DANE, 2009), which is based on the census conducted in
2009. For this reason, the air temperature data of the meteorological stations were also taken from the same year.
Given that the city can have different morphologies in its urban structure and different population concentrations, the nine
meteorological stations taken as samples are spread around different city contexts (Fig. 1). The Bogota Ministry of Planning provides
the demographic data (p and PD) in Zonal Planning Units (ZPUs), which are the municipal administrative divisions. Therefore, in
order to associate p and PD values to each station, these values were calculated based on the average extracted among the different
ZPUs that are around the station (Fig. 1b). Thus, each p and PD value could properly represent the urban and demographic conditions
at which each station is located.
Table 2 shows a summary of the data collected for this study in a period of one year from 9 stations. The first three stations (NGU,
AUD, and AD) have less people, a greater area and, therefore, a lower PD when compared to the other stations that are associated
with purely urban sectors and present high PD. Concerning the ΔTu-r data, there is only a small variability of ΔTu-r values (< 2 °C)
among the different months for each station. The stability among these values can be explained by Bogotá's location and climate,
which is a city under a high-altitude tropical climate (Roth, 2007), with two rainy seasons in the year, ranging from March to April
and from October to November, an annual precipitation of 900 mm and an air temperature average of 14 °C, with minimum values of
up to 4 °C at night and maximum values up to 25 °C during the day (Gaitan et al., 2007). Due to its proximity to Ecuador (4°35 N,
74°04 W) and its altitude (2640 m), the city has uniform temperatures distributed throughout the year and low annual temperature
ranges (< 2 °C) caused by the smaller differences between dry and rainy seasons and the stability of their air mass (Eidt, 1969;
Jauregui, 1986; Roth, 2007). This makes it possible to predict temperature values with considerable accuracy, as shown by Eidt
(1969), who, considering an increase of 6 °C with each kilometre of altitude, and a base temperature at sea level of 30 °C, the annual
average air temperature in Bogotá can be predicted at 14.2 °C. According to all this, for this study, due to the high stability of the
weather conditions and low seasonal variability, there is a large reduction in the seasonal effects in the air temperature (Santamouris,
2015) and in the risk of attenuating ΔTu-r. Therefore, in the specific case of our study, using the average annual data of ΔTu-r seems to
be a reasonable procedure.
It is important to mention that there is a significant temperature difference between the stations, showing the morphological
peculiarity and the influence of each sector where the stations are located, in the air temperature.

2.2. Urban form data collection

Some parameters of the urban form were calculated for each station area of influence (radius of 0.3 Km) (Oke, 2004; World
Meteorological Organization, 2008). These can be divided into parameters of the urban land cover, geometric and morphology
parameters. The main source of information to calculate these parameters was the City Reference Map (Unidad Administrativa
Especial de Catastro Distrital et al., 2018), which consists of a set of urban planning information that includes vector layers of
buildings, streets, topography, land use, water bodies and urban parks in a Geographic information system (GIS) format (the vector
data is freely accessible at https://www.ideca.gov.co/datos-de-referencia). All the handling of vector information and calculation of
the urban form parameters (except for SVF) were carried out using a free geographic information system (Q-GIS) using its spatial
operation tools and the field calculator (Fig. 2). The explanation of the method for estimating the values of each urban land cover and
urban morphology parameters is presented in the next parts of this section, together with the analysis of the data obtained.

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Fig. 1. Study area localisation (a) and location of the climate stations with their associated Zonal Planning Units (ZPUs) (b).

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Table 2
Urban Heat Island intensity (ΔTu-r) during a period of 12 months for three Sub-Urban meteorological stations and six Urban stations. The values of
ΔTu-r for each month are obtained from the average of the daily average temperature.
STATIONS NVA C.UNIV.AGROP.UDCA APTO EL JARDIN COL INEM BILBAO UNISALLE COL H
GENERACION DORADO BOTANICO SANTIAGO KENNEDY MAXIMO CENTRO DURAN
AUT PEREZ POTI

Abbreviations of stations NGU AUD AD JB CSP IK BMP UC HD

Related ZPU (Number UPR1 UPR1 117 105 39 46 UPR1 93 82
Code) 2 42 75 27 94 80
54 112 28 96 84
62
ZPU Area Km2 52.15 29.44 7.44 1.62 4.33 4.92 21.92 1.93 3.11
Population Inh 179 550 835 2464 96,426 95,254 145,631 28,056 140,794
Population Inh/Km2 3.43 18.67 112.23 1520.99 22,256.49 19,348.70 6643.77 14,536.96 45,329.68
Density
MON Tr(°C) Sub-Urban ΔTu-r (°C) Urban ΔTu-r (°C)
JAN 12.90 1.40 1.30 0.25 0.85 – 2.30 −0.60 1.90 –
FEB 13.45 0.85 0.75 0.10 0.75 1.85 2.15 1.50 1.80 –
MAR 13.95 0.50 0.75 −0.15 0.65 1.70 1.80 1.05 1.55 2.25
APR 14.05 0.50 0.75 0.15 1.05 2.05 −0.90 1.30 1.45 3.05
MAY 13.63 0.52 0.53 0.68 1.03 1.48 1.23 1.58 1.83 4.48
JUN 13.83 0.03 0.53 0.83 1.33 1.78 3.23 1.58 1.13 2.83
JUL 13.84 0.43 0.37 0.67 0.93 – 2.38 1.53 0.77 3.25
AUG 13.98 0.77 0.58 0.87 1.18 – 2.63 1.63 1.13 2.68
SEP 13.80 0.35 0.00 0.40 0.35 – 1.85 1.55 1.15 2.45
OCT 13.90 0.55 0.20 0.50 0.35 – 1.40 1.35 1.00 2.75
NOV 14.08 0.93 0.53 0.78 0.98 – – 1.23 1.38 2.83
DEC 14.55 1.45 −0.30 0.25 0.80 – 1.70 1.80 2.00 3.40
AVERA 13.72 0.69 0.50 0.44 0.85 1.84 1.71 1.29 1.42 3.10

Tr (°C) Rural Air Temperature. The rural temperature is the average temperature obtained by data from the TIBAITATA and VENADO ORO VIVERO
stations (Fig. 1).
Inh. Inhabitants.

2.3. Land cover data calculation and analysis

The first parameter that describes the urban land cover is BSF%, that was extracted from the building data (Fig. 2), where each
building is represented by a polygon vector. Moreover, the PSF% and ISF% were calculated by half of the polygon vectors. In the first
case (PSF%), the polygon vectors of the parks were used, and this was complemented by adding other polygon vectors corresponding
to other pervious zones (gardens and open ground) using Google Earth satellite photographs. In the second case (ISF%), the streets,
avenues and urban blocks covering vector data were used to obtain the walkway and other public spaces areas, such as squares. To do
this, the BSF% and PSF% area were subtracted from the urban block area.
The proportions for each type of surface in the different station sectors can be observed in Fig. 3. It can be seen that in the NGU,
AUD and AD stations, there is a high proportion for PSF% (> 40%) and a low proportion for BSF% (< 20%), suggesting not only a
low number of buildings, but also a low PD. In the case of AD, the area of ISF% is considerably high (> 40%), caused mainly by its
services (airport), which are land uses that require a large amount of paved area. Although in this case, it does not seem to have a
great thermal impact as shown in other studies (Stone and Rodgers, 2001). In the case of JB, its high percentage in PSF% covers half
of the area, due to a large urban park, which occupies a significant proportion of the station influence area
(157,657.53 m2 = 45.18%). Therefore, it can have a significant cooling effect (Wong and Yu, 2005). The BSF% begins to increase for
the CSP, IK and BMP stations (19% -20%), however it does not increase much regarding the previous stations. This happens because
the ISF% (> 50%) has a high percentage. This suggests that in these station sectors there are large areas of public space and urban
mobility. Finally, the BSF% area increases considerably for UC and HD (> 40%), where the value of PSF% is minimal (< 15%),
suggesting that they are sectors with intense urbanisation.

2.4. Estimation of building height and data analysis

For BH, the data was obtained from the building vector information that contains the number of floors for each building (polygon)
(nfloor) as well, which is used to estimate the polygon height (BHi). Based on this, all the buildings with a single floor will be 4 m high,
for buildings with 2 and 3 floors, the first floor will be 4 m high and the following floors will be 3 m high. These values were
determined considering that small residential buildings or small public buildings (schools or community centres) have a range of
height per floor between 3 and 4 m in most of the station sectors. Considering this, the height for each building (BHpol) can be
estimated with Eq. (1):
BHi (m) = 4 + [(nfloor − 1) ∗ 3] (1)
To estimate the BHi of buildings over 4 floors, Eq. (1) needs to be adjusted in order for the BHi value, elements such as thicker

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Fig. 2. Graphic scheme showing how Land cover and Urban Morphology data was obtained from the vector data. SVF was calculated using
photographs which were georeferenced for each sector.

Fig. 3. Urban land cover parameter proportions.

floor joist or higher roofs to be considered. Therefore, for buildings between 4 and 9 floors, 2 m will be added to Eq. (1), and for
buildings with > 10 floors, each floor will have 4 m.
Fig. 4 shows the BHi distribution for each station expressed in its proportion, which is calculated according to the ground area
occupied by the buildings (polygon) (BSi) with a certain value of BHi and not by the number of buildings. Additionally, with BSi and
BHi values, the area-weighted mean for each station sector can be calculated. This offers a better central tendency value for BH.
According to Zheng et al. (2018), the BH area-weighted mean of a sector is described by Eq. (2), as follows:

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Fig. 4. BHi proportions and the BH area-weighted mean for the station area of influence. The proportions are based on the ground area occupied for
each value of BHi.

n
∑i = 1 BSi ∗ BHi
BH = n
∑i = 1 BSi (2)

Where n is the number of buildings (polygons) that each station area of influence have, BSi is the ground area of each building
(Fig. 2), BHi is the height of each building, ∑i=1nBSi ∗ BHi is the total volume of buildings within the station area of influence and
∑i=1nBSi is the total area occupied by the building (Built-up area).
Regarding the observed proportion for each sector, Fig. 4 shows that for NGU AUD and AD stations, the value of the highest
proportion is 4 m (60% -80%) and the buildings do not exceed 10 m. This shows that they are sectors with little urban development to
present low values of BH and BSF%. In the case of JB, the BHi proportion with 4 m (29%) is reduced by the increase in BHi with 7 m
that have the highest proportion (57%). For the CSP station, the proportions are better distributed, where the BHi values of 4 m, 7 m
and 18 m have similar percentages (32.23 and 29%). This suggests that the urban development of this sector has some control of
heights and defined building typologies, which are characteristics of previously planned great urban development.
For the IK and BMP stations, it is highlighted here that these sectors present the buildings with the highest BHi values (48–68 m).
In the case of IK, the area of BHi with 4 m is quite extensive (> 35000m2 = 57%). This may imply that IK has buildings intended for
service or commercial use that require large ground areas. In the case of BMP, the morphological complexity of the sector is re-
presented for the presence of a large number of different BHi values. As a result, no value exceeds 29% in the distribution. In the UC
station, the highest proportion in BHi of 4 m (54%) and the high BSF% value show a much more homogeneous sector. Finally, for HD
the most BHi values seem to be distributed between 4, 7 and 10 m (14, 33 and 34%), with the presence of a few mid-rise buildings (15
and 18 m < 10%). This shows that in most of the sector, the building typology is similar.

2.5. Calculation of the H/W ratio and data analysis

The relationship between height and the narrowness of the urban canyon can be explored using the H/W ratio that simplifies the
urban canyon geometry when relating the value of BH by the urban canyon width (W) (Goh and Chang, 1999; Coseo and Larsen,
2014). To obtain H/W, Nakata-Osaki et al. (2018) propose a methodology based on the division of the urban canyon by an axis to
obtain W by adding the distance between the facades of each building and using the BH simple mean. On the other hand, for a local
scale, Zheng et al. (2018) propose the calculation of W from the area and the length of the streets, while the BH area-weighted mean
(Eq. (2)) of the local area (neighbourhood) is used.
For this study, the method proposed by Zheng et al. (2018) is adopted to offer a representative value for a local area. However, it
must be remembered that the sectors being studied do not have the traditional block and street configuration, but in some cases the
typology is more complex, presenting super blocks with pedestrian and public spaces between buildings that also make up an urban
canyon (Fig. 5). To solve this problem, a system of axes proposed by Nakata-Osaki et al. (2018) is used, whereby an axis is drawn in

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Fig. 5. Sky View Factor measured values and H/W estimated value and associated data.

the middle of the space between the different blocks of buildings (not including small patios or interior gardens within the same
building). The axle system overlooks the fact that streets are the elements that define the urban canyon. Instead, the urban canyon is
understood as the empty space between the built-up area (Fig. 2). In this order of ideas, the H/W ratio can be estimated from the BH
area-weighted mean and by the difference between the built-up area and the station circle of influence area. This difference is
considered as the urban canyon area. Zheng et al. (2018) propose Eq. (3) to calculate W in the urban canyon:

Scanyon
W= n
∑i = 1 SLi (3)

Where n is the number of traced axes in the urban canyon area, Scanyon is the urban canyon area and ∑i=1nSLi is the total length of
the traced axes. The H/W of the station area of influence can be calculated using the Eq. (4):

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

BH
H /W =
W (4)

Where BH is the BH area-weighted mean (Eq. (2)) and W the width of the urban canyon (Eq. (3)).
Fig. 5 shows the data obtained for the calculation of H/W together with the urban canyon area (Scanyon) and the traced axes (SLi)
for each station sector. The values of H/W increase slowly for the NGU, AUD, AD and JB stations (0.09 to 0.19). The latter does not
have a higher value due to the sector parks that increase the urban canyon area (250,872.8m2). IK and UC have differences in their
BH values that suggest different H/W values, instead of these stations having similar values (H/W = 0.36 and 0.35). The explanation
for this is that IK has a high BH value (13.50 m), but its high value in W (37.7 m) suggests a wide urban canyon, causing the value of
H/W not to be as high (or deep) as would be expected. For UC, the opposite happens, and its value of W (19 m) suggests a narrower
canyon (deep) than IK, but its low BH (6.64 m) helps to attenuate the final H/W value.
The highest H/W values are presented for BMP and HD stations (0.83, 0.70). BMP is the sector where the marked axis is longer
(length > 12,000). Undoubtedly the morphological complexity (great diversity of building typologies) influenced the extension of
the axis, as more traces (lines) are necessary. This heterogeneity indicates that the morphological values of this sector are more
diverse and show a greater variability, which affects the final average value representative for the sector. Likewise, the high-rise
buildings of BMP (BH > 16 m) contribute to having the highest H/W (0.83). Finally, HD presents a high value for H/W, mainly
caused by the narrowness of the urban canyon (W < 15) and the low-rise buildings (BH < 9 m). These observations show that
similar values of H/W do not always show similar sectors and the influence of BH on the final value of H/W important (Emmanuel
and Johansson, 2006), because H/W can be increased considerably by increasing BH, regardless of whether there is a high value of W
(wide street) or not.

2.6. Calculation of the Sky View Factor and data analysis

Finally, the Sky View Factor (SVF) was determined for the different stations using photographs obtained by a fisheye-lens coupled
to a Nikon E4500 camera that was positioned 1.5 m above the ground, then each photograph was processed by RayMan 1.2 con-
sidering suggestions made by Matzarakis et al. (2010) to calculate its SVF value. Just as above, 23 photographs in total were taken for
the 9 station sectors. For each station area of influence, at least two photographs were taken, each of these located at different points
that show some visual variation in its urban form (Fig. 6). The average between the different points (SVF values) for each station was
obtained as the SVF representative value for the site.
Analysing the SVF representative values (Fig. 5), the NGU, AUD and AD stations have similar values (SVF > 0.60), showing that
the obstruction of the sky is mainly caused by separate and dispersed buildings. Similar values are presented between JB, CSP BMP
and UC (SVF = 0.40–0.50), because they are residential areas with open spaces related to parks (JB) or areas with public space (CSP
and BMP), where small variations of SVF are caused by the vegetation. This vegetation can cause great obstructions to the sky but
does not tend to heat the air as other rugged urban elements do (Wang and Akbari, 2014). Another important observation is that
although it is clear that there may be differences among the urban forms of these sectors, there are characteristics that explain the
similarity between SVF values. For example, UC (SVF = 0.41) has a narrower urban canyon, however it does not have great heights
(BH = 6.64) that can enhance the obstruction of the sky. In the case of BMP and CSP (SVF = 0.45–0.46), considerable heights are
presented (BH > 9.50), but this and the typology of their buildings favour the open areas (parks and plazas). The lowest SVF values
are in IK and HD (0.32–0.36). In the first case, the highest obstruction is mainly caused by high-rise buildings (BH = 13 m). In the
second case, similar to UC, there are narrow urban canyons, but with a lower height (BH = 9 m).
Fig. 6 shows the sector maps and the representative values for the different urban form parameters. It can be observed that the
CSP and HD stations are shaded areas, which was overlooked when calculating the different parameters of the urban form. This
decision was taken because they are small areas that clearly have different characteristics and can distort the parameter data. JB also
shows this contrast of characteristics as a large part of its area of influence is occupied by a park. This characteristic, however, cannot
be ignored if it occupies almost 50% of the circle of the influence area.

2.7. Correlations between demographic and the urban form parameters and their relationship with the Urban Heat Island intensity

Subsequently, the temperature differences between the air temperature of the sub-urban and urban stations and the rural air
temperature, which may be defined as the Urban Heat Island Intensity (ΔTu-r) (Oke, 1973), were obtained for a period of 12 months
for each station and cross-examined with the data of p and PD, as shown in Table 2. Considering these data, relationships among ΔTu-
r- log p and ΔTu-r - PD, were identified. Finally, the inter-station variability and the correlations between the urban form parameters
with ΔTu-r and PD were compared and the relationships with the highest coefficient of determination were highlighted and explored.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Correlations between ΔTu-r (°C) X population (p) and ΔTu-r (°C) X population density (PD)

Fig. 7a shows the relationship between ΔTu-r and the logarithm of population (log p), for which there is an acceptable coefficient of
determination (R2)(0.64), however not as high as in other studies (Oke, 1973; Park, 1986; Torok et al., 2001; Yasushi and Emi, 2005),
showing that there is a tendency for most of the stations. However, when the HD station data is eliminated from the correlation, R2

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Fig. 6. Meteorological stations area of influence maps and urban form parameter representative values.

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Fig. 7. Relationship between the annual average of ΔTu-r and Log P (a), the annual average of ΔTu-r and PD (b), and the distinction of relationships
between the annual average of ΔTu-r and log p (c) and ΔTu-r and PD (d) in only urban stations.

increases to 0.82. Therefore, the high population and high ΔTu-r presented in this specific sector do not follow the trend of the other
stations. Similarly, the BMP station has a high population, however ΔTu-r is not as high as suggested by the tendencies of the other
stations.
If the data from these two outliers were eliminated, the R2 would increase to 0.90. These two stations show morphological
differences that arise within the same city. The first one, the HD station, is situated in an informal development sector, which means
that it is in an area that had no previous planning and was mainly occupied spontaneously by people with low purchasing power. The
second, the BMP station, represents a sector totally opposed to the previous one, also presenting a high population but in a devel-
opment area that was planned and mainly characterised by the availability of many parks and green spaces (Fig. 6). These data
should not be neglected though, as they represent morphological realities of the city. Although they do not follow the trend of the
other sectors, they do affect their ΔTu-r.
Unlike the relationship between ΔTu-r and log p, the relationship between ΔTu-r and population density (PD) fits better into a
simple linear relationship (Fig. 7b). In this case, the value of R2 is very high (0.97) due to high PD and ΔTu-r of HD. However, if the
data of this station were omitted, the R2 would be slightly lower decreasing to 0.92. Although there is a large gap between the data of
the CSP station (ΔTu-r = 1.84 °C, PD = 22,256.49) and the HD station (ΔTu-r = 3.10 °C, PD = 45,329.68), it is interesting to see how
the previous station is part of the trend, different to what happened with the previous correlation (ΔTu-r and log P), where the HD
station does not follow this trend. This observation suggests that high PD may be related to areas of high land use that reduce the loss
of short-wave radiation (Table 1). This contributes to the ΔTu-r increase. All these factors imply that PD can be a better indicator of
different morphologies presented within the same city than Log p.
A very important observation is that R2 seems to change when it only considers the data from the urban stations, especially for the
ΔTu-r - log p relationship (Fig. 7c), where R2 is much lower (0.40), possibly due to the data of HD and BMP stations being far from the
trend, as were explained above. On the other hand, the correlation ΔTu-r- PD in only urban stations (Fig. 7d) increases slightly
(R2 = 0.98). These observations could mean that the sub-urban station data probably cause some distortion because they seem to
have negative relationships. This could be due to the fact that the air temperature tends to decrease rapidly from the city centre to the
limits (Bottyán et al., 2005), which is where these stations are located and are better exposed to the regional wind. Several studies

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 E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza

13
Fig. 8. Thermal maps expressed by isotherms showing UHI spatial distribution based on ΔTu-r real data obtained by the sub-urban and urban stations (a), ΔTu-r predicted data using Eq. (5) located in
different points of the city (prediction points) (b), and Population Density (PD) spatial distribution according to the Zonal Planning Units data (UPZ) (c).
Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497
E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Table 3
ΔTu-r predicted values by Eq. (5).
ΔTu-r (°C)

Population density (PD) Real Predicted Difference

JB 1520.99 0.85 0.87 0.02

CSP 22,256.49 1.84 1.91 0.07
IK 19,348.70 1.71 1.76 0.05
BMP 6643.77 1.29 1.13 0.16
UC 14,536.96 1.42 1.52 0.10
HD 45,329.68 3.10 3.06 0.04

have shown the role of wind speed and flow on reducing ΔTu-r (Park, 1986; Santamouris, 2015). Unfortunately, there is no large
sampling of sub-urban stations necessary to generate meaningful observations and explanations about these relationships.
Finally, it can be observed that when p is over 2500 inhabitants, the UHI may already be developed, considering that there is UHI
formation when ΔTu-r > 1 °C (Oke, 1973). A similar conclusion may be drawn from the PD, for which an amount of 14,500 in-
habitants/km2 already develops a ΔTu-r > 1 °C. It is important to highlight that the UHI only occurs in urban stations, but not in sub-
urban stations (Fig. 8).

3.2. Urban Heat Island intensity prediction model

Several studies have explored the relationship between ΔTu-r- log p, proposing various regression models to predict ΔTu-r in cities.
However, these studies were used for the total p of several cities in the same region. In this study, the prediction model is applied to
different sectors in the same city, where the PD values had a greater correlation between the different sectors of Bogotá. Table 3 lists
the real ΔTu-r values and the predicted ΔTu-r values based on PD obtained by the Eq. (5). The predicted values show an insignificant
difference (0.02 °C) between the real values and the predicted values of ΔTu-r.

ΔTu − r = 0.00005PD + 0.7964 (5)

Eq. (5) was obtained from the relationship ΔTu-r- PD shown in Fig. 7d, which overlooks the sub-urban stations, as these stations
distort the R2 and can underestimate predicted ΔTu-r values. When using only one parameter, this simple model could be the most
appropriate for ΔTu-r prediction of different urban sectors within the urban area of Bogotá. Thus, PD is the demographic parameter
that best recognises the morphological differences and the informal development presented by the city under study and it is also the
best one to demonstrate their impact on ΔTu-r.

3.3. Visualization and distribution of the Urban Heat Island intensity in Bogotá

Eq. (5) was used in other points inside the city (prediction points) to predict ΔTu-r as a function of PD. Table 4 presents ΔTu-r values
of all the prediction points, showing that values of urban ΔTu-r > 1 °C already occur when PD is > 5000 inhabitants/km2.
The distribution of the prediction points, together with the original modelling points (stations), allow the whole urban area
mapping, creating isothermal maps of ΔTu-r. The first map is based only on the interpolation of ΔTu-r data obtained by the me-
teorological stations (Fig. 8a), the second shows the data of the meteorological stations together with data predicted by Eq. (5)
(Fig. 8b). These maps were developed using a geographical information system (Q-GIS), in which the inverse distance weighted
(IDW) method was used. The IDW is a basic interpolation method that estimates the values of a point depending on the known values
of other points, where the closest points define the final interpolated value of that point (Bartier and Keller, 1996). A third map is
created to contrast PD distribution with the isothermal maps of ΔTu-r (Fig. 8c).
Analysing the maps, it can be observed that the prediction model helps to provide a better understanding of the ΔTu-r tendencies
in the city (Fig. 8c). Inside the city there are areas where ΔTu-r is especially high. This means that Bogotá UHI (ΔTu-r > 1 °C) is not
present in the whole urban area. UHI in this city is formed by concentric zones and the southern part stands out as the sector with the
highest ΔTu-r (Fig. 8a,b) and PD values (Fig. 8c). This sector is the one that presents the highest concentration of inhabitants, thus
generating a high rate of urbanisation. Similarly, the maps show other sectors of the city where ΔTu-r is particularly high. This
irregular UHI distribution is also highlighted by Coseo and Larsen (2014), who showed that it can be caused by patches of vegetation
in the urban area and even by the different socioeconomic patterns in the city, which have different impacts on the environment that
can be seen reflected in UHI. This may also explain why areas in the north of the city with high PD values (Fig. 8c) do not show large
ΔTu-r values compared to areas in the south of the city.
It can be observed that although the UHI intensity in Bogotá has been studied as a phenomenon of the Urban Canopy Layer, the
map does not help to identify hotspots because these are areas with relatively high air temperatures inside the urban canyon (Coutts
et al., 2016). Moreover, in order to identify them, the air temperature should be measured on an urban block scale, rather than a local
scale (neighbourhood) as in this study. However, the map is a good tool to identify UHI and helps prioritise areas and sectors where
the city may develop these hotspots to analyze them later.

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Table 4
Lists of ΔTu-r predicted values by Eq. (5) in different prediction points within the city and their respective ZPUs (see Fig. 8) that determined the
population density values for each prediction point.
Prediction point Related Population density (PD) Predicted
ZPUs* ΔTu-r
(°C)

1 102 11,575.10 1.38

2 20 24 25 9300.67 1.26
3 64 744.46 0.83
4 2 136.89 0.80
5 76 8926.91 1.24
6 93 7980.93 1.20
7 104 853.81 0.84
8 107 109 111 9876.66 1.29
9 107 15,578.08 1.58
10 97 98 13,024.87 1.45
11 91 92 10,363.75 1.31
12 14 16 9836.03 1.29
13 98 100 17,141.36 1.65
14 108 1224.08 0.86
15 41 45 22,265.54 1.91
16 38 40 41 22,664.41 1.93
17 115 116 6466.81 1.12
18 104 106 109 9436.38 1.27
19 16 11,221.75 1.36
20 85 30,956.97 2.34
21 98 19,826.24 1.79
22 78 8546.98 1.22
23 17 18 14,232.99 1.51
24 16 97 8722.63 1.23
25 96 23,134.64 1.95
26 58 17,604.20 1.68
27 12 13 16,561.55 1.62
28 1 562.01 0.82
29 115 117 3116.87 0.95
30 69 29,303.66 2.26
31 51 52 14,989.96 1.55
32 55 56 24,994.58 2.05
33 67 27,740.92 2.18
34 44 113 14,887.39 1.54
35 44 47 25,377.28 2.07
36 72 18,182.98 1.71
37 73 74 24,570.94 2.02
38 84 41,581.87 2.88

Predicted ΔTu-r(°C) by Eq. (5)~ *Number Code.

3.4. Comparison between urban form, PD and ΔTu-r variability

The previous results showed that PD is the demographic indicator studied that best recognises the morphological differences
within the same city. Regarding the urban land cover parameters, there is a difficulty in identifying a common pattern between ΔTu-r -
PD and BSF% (Fig. 9a). However, it can be mentioned that when PD > 5000 inhabitants/km2, the BSF% begins to increase (> 20%),
suggesting that after these densities, the demand for built-up area increases significantly. It is also evident that BSF% > 20% reg-
isters an ΔTu-r increase > 0.80 °C. This suggests that a large urban development does not necessarily lead to great changes in tem-
perature. The same difficulty is highlighted with ISF% (Fig. 9c), where values > 40% correspond to the highest ΔTu-r and PD values.
This means that impervious areas require a large area to affect temperature changes. For densities higher than 6000 inhabitants/km2,
the ISF% does not exceed 56% (BMP), showing that in large PD values, a proportional increase of streets or public space does not
necessarily occur. In the case of PSF% (Fig. 9b), it is clear that their values are inversely proportional to ΔTu-r and PD values. It can be
identified that PSF% < 40% have the highest ΔTu-r and PD values, showing the importance of vegetation to control temperature
changes.
Within the parameters of urban geometry and morphology (Fig. 10), it can be observed that BH (Fig. 10a) values between 4 and
10 m (low-rise) present the highest ΔTu-r and PD values. However, higher heights do not correspond to higher ΔTu-r and PD, because
ΔTu-r and PD begin to decrease when BH > 13 m. In the case of ΔTu-r, the decrease in temperature can be explained by the shade
caused by high-rise buildings, and the PD decrease that occurs between BMP and UC can be explained by a socioeconomic reason,
since they are sectors with greater land value. Regarding SVF (Fig. 10b), it is observed that their values tend to be inversely pro-
portional to ΔTu-r and PD, when SVF increase (> 0.50), ΔTu-r presents low values and PD < 2000 inhabitants/km2. This fact is more
evident in the sub-urban stations where slight changes in ΔTu-r are more related to the surfaces (land-cover) than with urban elements

15
E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Fig. 9. Comparison between ΔTu-r and PD with land-cover parameters. For BSF% (a), PSF% (b) ISF% (c).

Fig. 10. Comparison between ΔTu-r and PD with urban morphology parameters. For BH(m) (a), SVF (b) and H/W (c).

that obstruct the sky. In urban stations, when PD increases considerably (PD > 19,000) and SVF is lower than 0.45, it can produce
ΔTu-r > 1.50 °C. For H/W (Fig. 10c), the values tend to be directly proportional to ΔTu-r and PD for all stations, apart from BMP,
which has a very high H/W value (0.83). It can be seen that for PD > 6000, the H/W values are higher than 0.35, which coincide
with ΔTu-r > 1 °C.

3.5. ΔTu-r - log SVF, ΔTu-r - log PSF% and PD -log SVF, PD - log PSF % correlations

By performing a correlation analysis between the parameters of the urban form with ΔTu-r and PD, the relationship is not clear in
all the cases. The parameters with the lowest R2 (Table 5) for the urban morphology parameters are BH and H/W. The low R2value for
these parameters is mainly caused by BMP, because its high values in these parameters do not coincide with its low values in PD and
ΔTu-r. High correlations are presented between PD and BSF% -ISF%, however the correlation is very low with ΔTu-r.
PSF% and SVF show a high correlation with PD and ΔTu-r. In the first case, log PD and PSF% have a negative relationship

Table 5
Lowest R2 values between the urban form parameters with ΔTu-r and PD.
R2

BH H/W BSF% ISF%

PD 0.39 0.39 0.63 0.70

ΔTu-r 0.27 0.52 0.46 0.34

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

Fig. 11. Relationship between log PD and PSF % (a) - SVF (b). and relationship between ΔTu-r and log PSF % (c) - log SVF (d).

(Fig. 11a), and a relationship between log PD and SVF as well (Fig. 11b). The data suggest that in PD above 15,000 inhabitants/km2,
the parameter values decrease slowly. In addition, the IK and CSP stations move away from the tendency. The areas of these stations
have high-rise buildings, presenting higher values for PSF% (> 20%), SVF (> 0.35) and PD (> 19,000), causing a somewhat dis-
torted relationship. In the second case, the ΔTu-r values increase when the values of PSF% and SVF decrease. Thus, it confirms the
inversely proportional behaviour between the parameters (Fig. 11c,d). Concerning the negative relationship between log SVF and
ΔTu-r (Fig. 11c), this can be observed in various studies when comparing night ΔTu-r values (Unger, 2009; Hien and Jusuf, 2010; Wang
and Akbari, 2014). Remembering that ΔTu-r for this study is the annual average, it is complex to explain the inverse behaviour of log
SVF with respect to ΔTu-r. Souza et al. (2010) explain that the varied profiles within the same sectors present characteristics that alter
the thermal behaviour expected during the day and night. Finally, stations such as CSP, and HD are on the edge of the city and have a
high value of ΔTu-r compared to other sectors with similar characteristics (similar SVF values), suggesting that the location of the
stations within the same city influences the air temperature values.

4. Conclusions

This study showed the relationship between the Urban Heat Island Intensity (ΔTu-r), the population (p) and population density
(PD) for the city of Bogotá, proposing a prediction model to respond to the different sectors of the city. It was demonstrated that the
correlation between ΔTu-r - PD by different sectors within the same city, resulted in a reliable model to predict ΔTu-r. PD can recognise
sectors with very different morphologies, unlike the ΔTu-r- log p relationship. The latter, as seen in other studies, may work better on
large scales (to compare different cities) or if the degree of homogeneity of the city is high or simply ignoring the morphological
characteristics within the same city.
The above results can be reinforced by the highest correlation for log PD which were found for PSF% and SVF. It is important to
mention that for densities above 15,000 inhabitants/km2, the values of these parameters have little variation. In the same way, these
parameters seem to have a great influence on ΔTu-r as they have a high correlation. The influence of the location on ΔTu-r is high-
lighted, which is observed by the fact that some stations move away from the correlation tendency, mainly because the values of their
parameters are similar, as in the case of HD and UC, where they share similar characteristics, but their ΔTu-r values are very different.
Taking this study into account, it can be said that parameters such as PSF% and SVF have a high correlation with ΔTu-r and PD,

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E.A. Ramírez-Aguilar and L.C. Lucas Souza Urban Climate 29 (2019) 100497

because they directly express the impact that the urban development has on the environment. That is, PSF% is related to green
surfaces that contain vegetation, which are the areas that are the most affected by the urbanisation process. In the same way, SVF
expresses the visible celestial dome, which becomes obstructed with the urban development. Considering this, the increase in PD
(which is associated with the intensity of urban development) shows a reduction in the visible sky and natural areas, resulting in an
increase in the air temperature expressed in ΔTu-r > 1 °C values. It can be shown as a critical point that densities above 14,500
inhabitants/km2 have the highest temperatures, causing low values in SVF and PSF%. Similarly, BSF% and ISF%, despite not having
very clear correlations with ΔTu-r, can be better explained by PD, since they are parameters related to the urbanisation process.
In addition, it was observed that the UHI distribution in Bogotá has concentric shapes, however it does not decrease from the city
centre to outwards, as suggested by other studies. In this specific case, there are several centres and the highest ΔTu-r values may be
mainly concentrated in the south of the city. This heterogenous distribution reflects the morphological differences affecting the UHI.
Finally, it is emphasised that although demographic parameters such as PD identify possible differences in the urban form within
the city, they cannot characterize these configurations. The case of BMP stands out, which does not present a traditional urban
structure of blocks and streets. This demonstrates the importance of the urban sector configuration, which presents complexity and
diversity in the form of buildings and in the distribution of public spaces. That is why it is necessary to consider the influence of the
public space and building typology when calculating and relating parameters that describe urban geometry and morphology, or
specifically the urban canyon.

Acknowledgments

This study was partially financed by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance
Code 001.

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