Singapore’s Urban Heat Island Effect
A Work-in-Progress Analysis of Trends, Risks, and Solutions
Singapore, like many rapidly urbanizing cities, faces an intensifying Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, where built-up areas experience significantly higher temperatures than their rural surroundings. The reasons are well-documented: concrete-dominated landscapes, limited vegetation, and anthropogenic heat from industrial activity, transport, and air conditioning. But beyond the science, the consequences are real—rising energy consumption, deteriorating public health, and worsening climate change impacts.
I began analyzing UHI trends in Singapore using geospatial data from Landsat satellites (source :2023), with a focus on Land Surface Temperature (LST) and the Urban Fabric Thermal Vulnerability Index (UFTVI). While this research is ongoing, early findings already highlight a temperature gap of up to 7°C between urbanized and less developed areas in Singapore. But how do these metrics interact, and what can be done to mitigate the risks?