Abstract
The impacts of heat concomitant with climate change, global warming, and urban heat island phenomena have severely affected the environmental, physical, and psychological health of the urban populations. The trapping and storage of heat in the built environments also affect the pedestrian and building occupants’ thermal comfort levels, which results in additional energy demands, increased pollution emissions, and deterioration of urban climate. These impacts manifest through the socioeconomic factors that influence the exposure and vulnerability levels of the urban populations to excess heat-related illness and mortality. The integration of greeneries into urban areas for passive cooling is one of the nature-based solutions that have a greater potential to effectively tackle the urban heat island issues worldwide. In addition, such mitigation has a significant impact on the physical health and mental well-being of the urban communities and has various social and cultural implications. In view of this, this chapter provides an organic overview of the intertwined synergies between urban heat and environmental impacts, mitigation via urban greeneries, as well as their impact on several dimensions of urban health. The findings are anticipated to help promote the adoption of these greening solutions to create climate-friendly, sustainable cities.