Potential Use of Cool Pavement Technology in Tropical Climate: A Systematic Review

Pavement contributes greatly to increasing urban temperatures and increasing the urban heat island (UHI) effect in cities. An urban heat island (UHI) happens when the air temperature in an urban area is higher than in nearby suburbs and rural areas. Numerous negative consequences of the UHI phenomena include increased energy consumption brought on by excessive air conditioning use, air pollution and global warming, a loss of health, and disruptions to ecosystems. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out mitigation efforts to reduce the impact of solar heat absorption by roads on urban warming. This article will conduct a literature assessment on the possible application of cool asphalt pavements, particularly in tropical areas, in an effort to lessen the impacts of UHI and lower urban temperatures. This article summarizes the typical cooling techniques used by cool pavements and shows how they affect the tropical environment. The bibliometric analysis was used as the technique of the literature review. Compared to traditional literature reviews, it reduces the possibility of subjective conclusions. The published datasets in this study, specifically the co-citation networks and the co-occurrence map of keywords, are analyzed using bibliographic coupling. The study revealed that more than 50 of studies are related to the cool pavement technology of Reflective Pavements. Across the set of articles found for cool pavements in the tropical climate, it is found that cool pavements have a good potential for UHI mitigation in Tropical Countries. Finally, future studies should not only focus on the "surface temperature", but rather estimate the immediate impacts of cool pavements on the thermal comfort or human experience of heat exposure. © 2024 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.