Urban cooling through pavement innovation: a review of strategies and materials

One of the major problems caused by the fast and unplanned growth of cities is the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. This happens when urban areas, especially pavements, become much hotter than the surrounding countryside, mainly during summer. The heat builds up on surfaces like roads and sidewalks because they absorb and store heat from the sun. Climate change is making this worse by raising the Earth's overall temperature, which increases the impact of UHI even more. To help reduce pavement temperatures and lessen the UHI effect, researchers in pavement engineering have explored different methods. One of the most effective approaches is building "cool pavements." These are pavements made using special materials such as glass powder, fly ash, zeolite, polymers, recycled aggregates etc. that reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat. In recent studies, some researchers have also tested using waste materials in pavement mixtures. These waste materials can help lower the surface temperature while also being environmentally friendly. This review paper looks at the main methods used to build cool pavements and gives special attention to research that includes waste materials in pavement designs to fight the UHI effect.