How to Beat Extreme Heat

Louisville, Kentucky has recently been named the "most rapidly growing urban heat island" in the U.S., but what led to this title? Jeff Byles traces how cities are becoming increasingly warm through a number of different factors, including economic.

1 minute read

February 1, 2016, 12:00 PM PST

By ArupAmericas


"No solution to extreme heat will succeed without facing another unsettling fact: neighborhoods with the highest temperatures and the least amount of open space and vegetation are also the most economically disadvantaged. In his eye-opening book on Chicago’s 1995 heat wave, sociologist Eric Klinenberg cited 'significant associations between disaster mortality and neighborhood poverty, low-quality housing, lack of vegetation, and concentrated urban heat island effects.' Design strategies that boost social resilience, such as compact, walkable cities with high-quality public spaces, are essential to draw people out of their homes, foster social cohesion, and help reduce heat mortality."

Monday, February 1, 2016 in Doggerel

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