The effect of unplanned growth of urban areas on heat island phenomena

With the advent of the housing problem in Egypt, many residents have resorted to set up informal housing scheme to achieve the need of housing. This has significant urban, environmental and social impact on those residents. This research focuses on the impact of unplanned growth of urban areas on the environmental behavior, the amount of environmental compatibility and thermal comfort to the stakeholders of such areas. This study investigates the phenomenon of urban heat island in these areas. This research focuses on evaluating the effect of informal growth in urban areas on the Urban Heat Island Phenomena (UHI), by comparing the thermal images of two areas (One officially planned and the other is unplanned). Both areas have the same thermal and spatial characteristics. The comparison of thermal images during the period from 1990 to 2016 indicates that unplanned and highly populated areas suffer from an increase of 1-4 degrees C. (C) 2018 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Ain Shams University.