Optimized spatial planning offers a dual solution for managing urban heat and air pollution in humid subtropical climates

As cities expand, urban heat islands and air pollution have emerged, threatening health, ecosystems, and infrastructure. Yet a dual solution remains lacking to simultaneously mitigate these two greatly concerned issues due to complex urban climate-chemistry interactions, particularly for humid subtropical cities that suffer more from elevated heat stress. On the basis of coupled urban climate-chemistry modeling and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), we developed optimized spatial planning that considers the intricate interplay between urban heat and atmospheric chemistry. Optimized urban plans suggest a development pattern characterized by medium density and expanded urban green spaces. Both regression analysis and numerical modeling assessments demonstrate that our method could effectively mitigate both urban heat and air pollution. This study offers a new perspective to tackle the negative environmental impacts of urbanization in the context of ongoing climate change, and the developed framework can be easily applied to other urban areas and has potential to improve living conditions, decrease energy consumption and reduce health risks globally.