Urban Heat Island Effect

How Rotterdam’s Green Rooftops Fight Urban Heat
An elevated park in Rotterdam shows how green roofs can cool cities and create public parks in tight quarters.

Parks as a Weapon Against Climate Change
The 2022 ParkScore finds that cities are increasingly employing green space as a tool for mitigating heat and extreme weather effects, but the distribution of parks remains inequitable.

Extreme Heat as a Public Health Crisis
Cities can take action to improve conditions during extreme heat events and prevent heat-related deaths, many of which occur in low-income communities.

Student-Designed Cool Sidewalk Could Reduce 'Urban Heat Island' Effect
Researchers at the University of New Mexico created a sidewalk design using materials that would reduce heat absorption and require fewer materials than traditional concrete sidewalks.

As Heat Waves Become More Common, Bus Shelters Are Needed to Keep Transit Riders Onboard
As climate change brings prolonged, intense heat waves to cities once associated with rain and cold weather will have to attend to the lack of shelter provided to bus and transit riders.

Report: Skyscrapers a Driving Factor of the Urban Heat Island Effect
As cities build upwards in an effort to create more housing and increase walkability, research shows that tall buildings intensify heat and contribute to increased carbon emissions.

The Problem with Tree Planting Programs
Ambitious campaigns to plant trees in urban areas often don't take into account the complexities of growing and maintaining effective urban forests.

How Extreme Heat Threatens the Electrical Grid
Higher demand for electricity and lower capacity for production due to more intense heat waves are straining the power grid and causing concern for future energy production.

Tree Equity Score: The U.S. Needs 522 Million More Urban Trees
As climate change intensifies the urban heat island effect, poorer neighborhoods bear the brunt of tree canopy inequity.

Redlined Neighborhoods Suffer More From Extreme Heat
The recent heat wave in the Pacific Northwest highlighted how historical inequities still affect the health and well-being of low-income and marginalized communities.
City of Mt Shasta
McKenna
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
Cohousing Association of the US
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Rail~Volution
Sun City Center Community Association, Inc
City of Mesa
Town of Gilbert, Arizona
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.