Planning for Extreme Heat: A Review

Abstract

Extreme heat is a growing concern for cities, with both climate change and the urban heat island (UHI) effect increasingly impacting public health, economies, urban infrastructure, and urban ecology. To better understand the current state of planning for extreme heat, we conducted a systematic literature review. We found that most of the research focuses on UHI mapping and modeling, while few studies delve into extreme heat planning and governance processes. An in-depth review of this literature reveals common institutional, policy, and informational barriers and strategies for overcoming them. Identified challenges include siloed heat governance and research that limit cross-governmental and interdisciplinary collaboration; complex, context-specific, and diverse heat resilience strategies; the need to combine extreme heat “risk management” strategies (focused on preparing and responding to extreme heat events) and “design of the built environment” strategies (spatial planning and design interventions that intentionally reduce urban temperatures); and the need for extensive, multidisciplinary data and tools that are often not readily available. These challenges point to several avenues for future heat planning research. Ultimately, we argue that planners have an important role to play in building heat resilience and conclude by identifying areas where scholars and practitioners can work together to advance our understanding of extreme heat planning.

Why and How Do Cities Plan for Extreme Heat?

“…People of color and those with lower incomes are disproportionately exposed to heat, and the largest health risks fall on seniors, young children, and those with chronic conditions (Kovats and Hajat 2008;Wilson 2020). Implementing evidencebased strategies to reduce heat exposure and vulnerability requires planners to work in interdisciplinary teams (Keith, Meerow, and Wagner 2020).…”

“…Cities-home to nearly 63 percent of Americans and 76 percent of western U.S. residents-are central actors in local and regional climate adaptation planning (Cohen 2015;Woodruff and Stults 2016). However, heat is not bounded by city borders and necessary adaptation actions are not limited to city governments, meaning that coordination is required across the numerous public sector stakeholders that can contribute to an adaptive response (Hughes 2015;Keith, Meerow, and Wagner 2020). City climate adaptation planning may incorporate horizontal (e.g., with neighboring cities, energy utilities, county governments) or vertical (e.g., with other levels of government, nongovernmental stakeholders) planning efforts (Hughes 2015).…”

“…While scholars and practitioners recommend urban heat management and heat wave response planning, there is limited evidence about how cities innovate in heat adaptation planning (Keith, Meerow, and Wagner 2020). This paper focuses on municipalities and does not explicitly analyze the activities of actors that are often nonmunicipal enterprises such as energy utilities that influence household and businesses' adaptation; county agencies that implement federally funded programs focused on energy assistance, weatherization and energy efficiency, air conditioning installation, and heat emergency response; and state programs focused on energy efficiency and renewable power (Hughes 2015; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency n.d.).…”

Extreme heat at outdoor COVID-19 vaccination sites

“…PHEP adopts an all-hazards approach to preparedness using the National Response Framework and U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) PHEP Capabilities. Within the heat resilience framing, chronic and acute heat risk requires both heat mitigation and management strategies [16] . Heat mitigation strategies reduce urban heat by decreasing contributors in the built environment, such as roads and parking lot surfaces, and mechanical waste heat, from sources like vehicles and air conditioning.…”

“…The mission-driven decision to set up drive-through PODs during the cooler season did not initially prioritize heat risk. Further increasing heat risk, the drive-through PODs were selected for ease of vehicular access and for management of traffic flow, often the highest heat severity locations in the urban area due to the UHI effect and microclimate conditions [16] . As the PODs continued operations into the spring, site managers grew concerned about heat risk on POD operations.…”