Urban heat island (UHI) is a climatological phenomenon which represents the difference in
air temperature between urban areas, and its surrounding suburbs and undeveloped areas.
UHI is considered as one of the major problems in the 21st century posed to human beings as
a result of high rates of urbanization. The large amount of heat generated from urban
structures, as they absorb and re‐radiate solar radiation, and from anthropogenic heat
sources are main causes of UHI. In the ever‐urbanizing Arab region, the intensifying UHI
contributes to the increase of thermal discomfort of urban dwellers and, hence, the increase
of their environmentally unsustainable practices. There is an utmost need, therefore, to
study this phenomenon and investigate possible mitigation tools.
This paper summarizes the significance of UHI, its major characteristics and its causes. More
importantly, it attempts to form a conceptual framework of countermeasures, and urban
design and planning parameters which help mitigate this phenomenon. In doing so, this
theoretical study capitalizes on immense literature which has addressed the issue, yet,
basically from a climatological point of view. It attempts to look at the subject from an urban
design and planning point of view. The study, therefore, brings together two disciplines,
climatology and cities design and planning, an attempt in the field of UHI that has been
rarely tackled on the Arab region. The resulting collective conceptual framework is seen in
this paper as a necessary first step towards deeper investigation into urban planning and
design parameters which could help reduce the impact of UHI and, hence, create better
quality of life in the Arab world.