Passive cooling for thermal comfort in informal housing

Kimemia, David; Niekerk, Ashley van; Annegarn, Harold J.; Seedat, Mohamed

doi:10.17159/2413-3051/2020/v31i1a7689

Cited by 11 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…As shown in Table 1, temperature reduction of up to 4 • C was recorded through the entire retrofit of low-income housing in Durban [50]. Repainting of building envelope also offered similar indoor temperature reduction in Johannesburg, South Africa [51].…”

Section: On-site Implementation (2016-2018)mentioning

confidence: 79%

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Heat Stress Adaptation within Informal, Low-Income Urban Settlements in Africa

2022

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Climate projections indicate that persistent high temperatures and related heat stress will become a common experience in the future, across Africa. It is, therefore, important to understand challenges that might result from increasing extreme heat conditions, and how humans within urban centres can adapt. In this article, we provide a review that considers the experience of poor urban residents with extreme temperatures and adaptation strategies in relation to low-income, informal urban contexts in Africa. Our analysis is carried out across four focus countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt. Only cursory insights exist in the context of informal settlements. We found that heat stress remains an overlooked topic in comparison to other climate change adaptation needs. Evidence shows that adaptation strategies varied and differed in framing, scale, and applied methods across the contexts. Adaptation strategies dominantly examine a broad variety of alternative building measures and, to a lesser degree, greening/nature-based strategies. It is important to highlight heat stress as a cross-cutting, focal topic in urban research in relation to informal settlements and generally broaden the spectrum. It is worthwhile to pay special attention to strategic actions and research designs that foresee win–win and co-beneficial options for local urban communities.

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Section: On-site Implementation (2016-2018)mentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Johannesburg, South Africa [51] Retrofit-building envelope Such measures lead to an increase in indoor thermal comfort hours by about 40%. Simulation Nairobi, Kenya [52] Passive eco-cooling with clay funnels (wall openings)…”

Section: Experimentation and Field Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat Stress Adaptation within Informal, Low-Income Urban Settlements in Africa

2022

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“…Given that UHIs tend to stabilise after land becomes 50% urbanised, the development of partially urbanised areas should be prioritised to spatially constrain UHIs, with consideration of maintaining green space, which mitigates the worst UHIs. Informal settlements, which are often the subject of redevelopment and upgrading programs, represent an opportunity to explicitly consider green space and other heat mitigation strategies such as ventilation and reflective surfaces (Nutkiewicz et al 2018;Kimemia et al 2020). Upgrades, whether nature-based or other, should balance the socioeconomic benefits of built infrastructure, such as roads, with the need to maintain green space.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal development of the urban heat island in a socioeconomically diverse tropical city

Ramsay

Duffy

Burge

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Urban heat islands, where temperatures are elevated relative to non-urban surrounds, are near-ubiquitous in cities globally. Yet, the magnitude and form of urban heat islands in the tropics, where heat has a large morbidity and mortality burden, is less well understood, especially for socioeconomically diverse communities such as those living in urban informal settlements. We utilised 29 years of Landsat satellite-derived surface temperature, corroborated by in situ measurements, to provide a detailed spatial and temporal assessment of urban heat islands in Makassar, Indonesia, a city that is representative of rapidly growing urban settlements across the tropics. We did so with explicit consideration of vulnerable communities living informally. Our analysis identified surface urban heat islands of up to 9.2 C in long-urbanised parts of the city and 6.3 C in informal settlements, the seasonal patterns of which were driven by change in non-urban areas rather than in urban areas themselves. In recently urbanised areas, the majority of urban heat island increase occurred before areas became 50% urbanised. As tropical cities continue to expand we expect that urban heat islands will develop quickly as land is urbanised, whereas the established heat island in long-urbanised areas will remain stable in response to city expansion. Green and blue space protect some informal settlements from the worst urban heat islands and maintenance of such space will be essential to mitigate the growing heat burden from urban expansion and anthropogenic climate change. We advocate for green space to be prioritised in urban planning, redevelopment and informal settlement upgrading programs, with consideration of the unique environmental and socioeconomic context of tropical cities.

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“…Meanwhile, the poorest living in informal settlements could be targeted first with measures that are relatively easy to implement. A good example is the ceiling retrofitting insulation programme in South Africa, which can protect shacks from heat and cold for a small investment (Kirsten 2015, Kimenia et al 2020. Different energy and environmental audits of the existing stock of buildings and existing infrastructure need to be completed to give a clear picture of the key actions to be achieved in each area; these audits need to be conducted with inhabitants and local communities and their conclusions discussed with them.…”

Section: Actions Grounded In Existing Urban Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and strategic low-carbon planning in African cities after COVID-19: inclusiveness or chaos?

Lemaire¹

2021

JBA

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Cities in sub-Saharan African countries are feeling the impact of climate change with an increase in climate refugees and they have to deal with more intense flooding, land degradation and erosion, droughts, and heatwaves affecting in particular the poor living in informal settlements. Strategies on how to adapt and move to more resilient cities are being designed. But the question is how this transition can be done while municipalities in sub-Saharan Africa are facing difficulties coping with demographic growth, budget scarcity, and poor governance. Most local authorities in sub-Saharan Africa have consistently failed to address the fundamental basic needs of communities, even before the current acute environmental crisis. This paper analyses the persistent urban planning bias preventing transition to sustainability, emerging alternative strategic options promoting resilience and inclusivity while moving toward low-carbon cities, and how the discourse on post-COVID cities is relevant to the context of urban Africa.

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Passive cooling for thermal comfort in informal housing

Cited by 11 publications

References 53 publications

Heat Stress Adaptation within Informal, Low-Income Urban Settlements in Africa

Heat Stress Adaptation within Informal, Low-Income Urban Settlements in Africa

Spatio-temporal development of the urban heat island in a socioeconomically diverse tropical city

Climate change and strategic low-carbon planning in African cities after COVID-19: inclusiveness or chaos?

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