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Urban heat

During heat waves, the highest temperatures are often found in urbanized areas.

By 2070, 3.5 billion people will be heavily affected by heat, 1.6 billion of whom will live in urban areas (Chi Xu et al. 2020). Rising temperatures can negatively impact vulnerable people, workers, infrastructure and even GDP.

As the world warms, there is an urgent need to find ways to prevent the worst. Heat is a growing global challenge for communities large and small, across every development context, and requires collaboration amongst a wide array of disciplines and topic areas.

The uban heat island effect explained.
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People on a main street in Ginza, Tokyo on a hot day protecting themselves from the heat by using umbrellas.
Research briefs
The top hot spots in Tokyo: revealing the impact of climate change through data fusion

Researchers led by Associate Professor Hideki Kikumoto at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo have developed a new method to fuse climate analysis datasets with weather observations.

University of Tokyo 東京大学
Handbook on urban heat management in the Global South thumbnail
Documents and publications
Handbook on urban heat management in the Global South

This handbook combines real examples and strategies from cities in the Global South that are effectively tackling extreme heat. There is a particular focus on solutions that are, feasible, affordable, and easy to adapt.

World Bank, the
Update
Cities face double trouble: extreme heat and air pollution cause increasing compound weather events

Research from the University of Oklahoma reveals that “compound events” — periods when heat wave conditions coincide with high air pollution levels — are becoming more frequent and intense in urban areas across the United States.

University of Oklahoma
Update
The 'frying pan of Spain' shows how cities can deal with extreme heat

Seville has adopted several water-based solutions to reducing urban temperatures.

CBC/Radio-Canada
Garbage truck
Update
Collecting more than trash: Researchers equip local garbage trucks to gather data on urban heat island effect

To help identify — and ultimately mitigate — heat islands in South Bend, a team of University of Notre Dame researchers has partnered with the city to collect data using a novel method: garbage trucks.

University of Notre Dame
Research briefs
Deep-learning model visualizes urban heat stress at the meter scale

A new deep-learning based model developed by the University of Freiburg and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) calculates for the first time how heat stress will develop on each square meter of a city in the future.

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg
People sitting outside during the UK heatwave
Update
Europe’s soaring heat and the great air conditioning dilemma

Deadly summer heat waves have become the new norm in recent years for Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent. With air conditioning in only 20% of the Europe’s buildings, city leaders face a pressing dilemma.

World Resources Institute
An electric fan cools down a resident inside her house
Update
How Britain can beat the heat without becoming addicted to air conditioning

With heatwaves becoming hotter and more frequent, demand for air conditioning is expected to rise significantly. However, if the UK responds to hotter summers simply by installing more AC, they risk a costly, energy-hungry and more unequal future.

Conversation Media Group, the
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