DC’s Hottest Neighborhoods Have the Least Shade

Writing in Greater Greater Washington, Madeleine Bartin outlines the results of her research on how resources are allocated around Washington, D.C.’s transit stops, finding that some of the neighborhoods that experience the hottest temperatures thanks to the urban heat island effect are also least well-equipped with shelters and benches at bus stops.

According to Bartin’s research, “Metro stations with the lowest average percentages of 14-20% of stops having shelters were located entirely in Northeast and Southeast DC. The lines most covered were predominantly located in Northwest DC.”

People who aren’t affected by the design choices may not register them as exclusionary.

In D.C., the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) awards a franchise agreement to Clear Channel Outdoor to build and maintain bus shelters in exchange for advertising space. Because the company is allowed to consider “the advertising market potential” in their site selection, the company is incentivized to see the shelters as revenue boosters rather than as public amenities. 

Bartin calls this an issue of spatial justice — “a field of study that acknowledges the impact of urban design and access to public resources.” As Bartin explains, “features of cities that we often take for granted—like shade, heat, and bus stops—are not uniform, or innate, but shaped by human interaction.” The decisions made by policymakers and planners impact who has access to public resources.