Improper Space and Urban Planning

● In a development, the buildings and spaces must be designed and planned well. Certain
developments are poorly planned such that the wind path is blocked, the sun path
directs and is exposed to most of the parts of the development, not to mention, the
ventilation all throughout the development is obstructed.
Building Structure Materials
• Steel and Concrete

In structural design, some materials have high embodied carbon energy to produce,
namely, steel and concrete. As a result, to process these materials, certain
machineries and methods are utilized. Not to mention, some developers mass
produce these materials, not knowing there would be dire consequences of this.
Building Structure Materials
• Low Albedo Materials

Albedo has a direct impact on the formation of

the microclimate. The albedo of a city varies
according to various factors like the surface
arrangement. If the albedo of the urban surface is
low, it will store more solar energy, and the effect
will be an increase of urban temperature.

As discussed above, dark-colored surfaces,

characteristic of asphalt paving and roof tops,
typically have a low albedo and tend to
contribute to the urban heat island to a greater
extent than light-coloured surfaces.
 Types of Surfaces
● Paved and Impermeable Surfaces

Penang has about three times more roads per

1,000 persons than Singapore, despite being
around one-third of the latter’s size. Paved
over surfaces, such as roads and parking lots,
can absorb solar radiation as heat, and these
surfaces are impermeable, which means that
water runoff is redirected to the stormwater
system rather than being absorbed by plants
or water bodies that help cool the area
through evapotranspiration and evaporation.
Types of Surfaces
• Dark-Coloured Surfaces

Dark roofs absorb more energy into the

building as heat, hence in having a cool
roof, light colored surfaces have to be
adopted. But it’s not just roofs absorbing
the heat, but blacktop absorbs the sun rays
just as well, and neither surface reflects
much solar radiation, so they get hotter than
lighter-colored surfaces.
Urban canopy
In urban areas, there are multilayer buildings. The heat reflected by a building is trapped
by the nearby taller buildings, which is known as the urban canopy. Penang has many high
rise apartment buildings, thus more heat will be trapped by the buildings nearby. UHI is
exacerbated by the formation of the urban canopy. Due to the presence of densely situated
buildings, the velocity of wind is reduced, and it lessens the cooling effect by convection.
So, the trapped heat intensifies the effect.
Wind Blocking
In a development, aligning structures to the wind path is crucial so to have proper
ventilation all throughout the site’s development. Not to mention, some scientific
properties are also defined in urban planning such as stack effect, venturi effect, etc.
Consequently, most of the urban cities disregard these scientific properties, thus,
developers maximize all the spaces building a building, as a result, without knowing these
properties, the wind path is obstructed or entirely blocked.
Air Pollutants
In urban areas, especially in city centers, air pollution is a major issue. Exhaust gases from
vehicles, industrial pollutants released in the atmosphere, trap solar radiation, causing an
increase in temperature, and the microclimate effect becomes stronger. As a result, these
small things accumulate in different parts of the city, and together they pose a threat to the
society.
Industrial Area
Most industrial areas are poorly designed, such that certain machineries entrap heat, and
not to mention, surrounding structures are disturbed by the heat the industrial zone
produces. As a result, cooling devices in these areas are also utilized. Therefore, mass heat
entrapment would result in this.

Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone

Vehicle Users
As time passes by, more and more vehicles are produced, more people buy cars, thus more
highways, underpasses, etc. are built. As a result, a vehicle centered city or development is
produced, which contributes to air pollution, and UHI for this matter.
The Use of Air Conditioners
Humans use air conditioners massively with a rising trend for comfort. Penang today
is a middle-income region. As such, it has many firms with enhanced capabilities and
a well-developed track record of economic success. Offices and government
departments will be using air conditioners to ensure thermal comfort in a building. Air
conditioners keep a building cool inside but absorb heat from inside, releasing it to the
atmosphere. Mechanical air conditioning exhausts heat into the environment around
the building, directly adding to the problem. As a result, the outside environment is
warmed, leading to increasing atmospheric temperature.
Thermal Mass
In choosing the right building materials, it is important to determine the thermal mass or
the respective U-values of the material, whether it can reflect or absorb certain amounts of
heat. In some developments, the overall U-values of the building materials are
miscalculated, as a result too much heat is released or trapped in the building itself.
Lack of Vegetation
Plants and trees provide shade and cool the air through evapotranspiration. Penang is a
small area which has an area of 1,048km2 only and areas that are dominated by paved
surfaces have little room for green space. Forests are wiped out on a massive scale to meet
the demand of various urban facilities. Lesser trees mean less cooling efficiency. Trees
intercept the solar heat and absorb carbon dioxide for their own photosynthesis to cool the
environment. With the destruction of plant life, the efficiency of the cooling system goes
radically down, causing the creation of the process.
Human Gatherings
As human gathering is huge at the city centers owing to the availability of various
facilities, the emission of CO2 is also huge in these areas. CO2 stores heat, causing
enhanced atmospheric temperature. The ultimate effect is that it assists in the formation of
heat islands to a great extent. Not to mention, bad urban planning of open and green
spaces also contribute greatly to the problem.
Illegal Dumpsite
Although Penang was the first state to implement the "no single-use plastic" initiative, it is
found that in an oil palm estate in Bukit Teh, an illegal plastic dumpsite which has a size
of six football fields has been uncovered in nearby Machang Bubok. The dump site may
catch fire. On several occasions, the refuse released inflammable methane gas from the
decomposition of the organic matter which trapped heat and caused fire accidents,
released poisonous and toxic gases into the air. It may become a threat to the people living
around, when the site caught fire and it would burn for several days. The continuous burn
of dumpsite might cause urban heat island
References
•https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/effects-solutions-urban-heat-island.php

•https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/reduce-urban-heat-island-effect#:~:text=%22Urban
%20heat%20islands%22%20occur%20when,heat%2Drelated%20illness%20and
%20mortality.

•https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/urban-heat-island/

•https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/climate-change-impacts/urban-heat-islands

•https://www.americanforests.org/af-news/what-is-the-urban-heat-island-effect/