Study on the temporal and spatial evolution of the urban temperature and climate adaptability planning strategy in severe cold regions – a case study of Harbin, China

Purpose – The IPCC pointed out that climate adaptability should be a major measure to deal with climate change in the future, and cities should be the main areas to cope with the risks. However, cities in severe cold regions are affected by both regional macro-climate and climate changes. Meanwhile, the related mechanisms have not been well explored. This paper aims to pay attention to the temporal and spatial evolution of urban temperature in Harbin and discuss the relationship between meteorological parameters and the urban built environment to discover the complexity and particularity of climate adaptability problems for cities in severe cold regions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper takes a typical winter city in severe cold region, Harbin, as the research objective. First, the change trend of the urban temperature in Harbin in the last 30 years is analyzed using meteorological and remote sensing data, and then the projection results of the future climate change in Harbin are illustrated according to the global climate system model (BCC_CSM1_1). Second, this paper discusses the relationship between meteorological parameters and some typical built environmental factors. Findings – The results show that the urban temperature in Harbin gradually intensifies in both the summer and the winter, but the regional macro-climate background changes little. Low temperature, frequent snowfall and insufficient sunshine in winter are still the dominant climatic environmental characteristics in Harbin. Meanwhile, the meteorological parameters have significant relationships with the built environment indicators, with a big difference between winter and summer. Finally, the paper advances some climate adaptability planning strategies to optimize the climate environment under the dual background of regional cold climate and climate change. Originality/value – The paper explored the related mechanism of urban temperature evolution for cities in severe cold regions. Based on the results of some quantitative analysis, the climate adaptability planning strategies are advanced, which can provide technical support to make climate adaptability planning and construction decisions for cities in severe cold regions.