Urban form shapes global water cooling benefits to buildings

Urban water bodies are recognized as natural and effective cooling elements in urban areas. However, few studies have investigated the water cooling effect on surrounding buildings at a global scale. We examined the water cooling effect during summer across 28,385 water-adjacent urban areas worldwide. Our findings indicated that globally, water bodies provide cooling for a total urban building volume of ∼150 billion m 3 , with a building-volume-weighted average water cooling intensity (WCI) of ∼1.47°C. Urban water bodies, especially large ones, are found to cool surrounding human settlements unequally. Urban form effectively explains variations in the water cooling effect, with the edge density of impervious surface area and average building height within a 90 m buffer being particularly influential. We propose differentiated urban planning strategies for different continents to promote the water cooling effect. This study provides insights into mitigating urban heat hazards by enhancing the efficiency of water cooling utilization.