The patterns of green corridors in urban riverfront districts provide different synergistic cooling effects of blue-green space in urban areas. The purpose of this study is to quantify the spatial morphological impact of green corridors in riverfront block-scale area on the cooling effect. Three representative patterns (radiate, grid and dendritic) were selected in the study. The comprehensive influences analysis between multi-dimensional factors of spatial structure and morphology of green corridors and Ta (air temperature) distribution are processed by Envi-met4.4.5 simulation data and statistical analysis methods, such as regression tree model (BRT), were combined. The results showed that the D (distance from riverbank) has the greatest impact on the cooling effect of each belt green space. The D in the range of 600–750 m was affected by the cooling effect of blue-green space; The orientation with parallel to (southeast–northwest) or roughly the same as the prevailing wind direction (north–south) green corridors had relatively better cooling effect. When the width of green corridor was 20–25 m, the ME (marginal effect) of cooling was the largest; at 30–35 m (corridor width), the overall ME of cooling was the best; When the dPC (decreased probability connectivity, here the index was adapted to describe the connectivity degree) of green corridors was in the range of 0.5–1.5, the cooling effect of green corridor could be significantly improved. When dPC is 1.5, its marginal effect on temperature reached the maximum. The study provided a quantitative correlation technology for the morphological influence of blue-green space on the distribution of UCI (urban cooling island), which can guide the spatial layout control of green corridors in the planning and design of urban riverfront district.

Blue-green space commonly provides multiple ecological service functions, especially thermal environment comfort for citizens. The greenspace of the riparian buffers along 22 river channels in Shanghai was selected as the study object, and remote sensing and GIS technologies were used to obtain the quantitative composition and morphological indices of riverfront greenspace and the spatial distribution data of the land surface temperature in the study area. Through BRT modelling and statistical analyses, the interactive correlations among the three aspects, namely, the spatial patterns of riverfront greenspace, their specific functional zoning, and cooling island differentiation characteristics, were explored. The results showed that different river types served for different functional zones of the city, namely, high-density built-up zoning, new urban-growth zoning in built-up areas, suburban areas, and rural areas, and had specific regular patterns of morphosis and service function of riverfront greenspace. These also led to a significant spatial differentiation pattern of cooling intensity levels, which generally appeared in the approximate circle differentiation structure of the cooling island in the city riverfront area. The study further proposed the key factors and corresponding strategies for optimizing the greenspace pattern to strengthen the cooling intensity levels of different river types. This study summarizes the landscape composition paradigm of riverfront greenspaces at the urban mesoscale and provides adaptive planning methods for better local microclimate conditions.