By Quincy Midthun, Mayors Innovation Project
This summer is one of the hottest on record, and cities across the country are feeling the heat. Cities on the whole are getting hotter, but heat is not felt equally across cities. The effects of extreme heat are exacerbated in neighborhoods where greenery is sparse and buildings, roads, and other forms of infrastructure absorb and re-emit sunlight. These areas are known as “heat islands,” and they are disproportionately located in low income communities and communities of color.
Heat not only strains the grid to keep buildings cool, but it has negative impacts on human health, increasing the risk of heatstroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, and more. Oftentimes called the silent killer, heat is deadlier than other disasters but many people don’t see or feel the effects of extreme heat until it’s too late. It can be difficult for public health agencies to track which illnesses and deaths are heat related, so the numbers are likely worse than what is reported.
The data shows that heat is only getting worse. Hot days are becoming hotter and more frequent. Some cities are working to combat heat island effects in innovative ways. From Phoenix’s cool pavement to Cleveland’s Community Forestry Corps Program, read below to learn how cities are taking action to beat the heat and create cooler, safer, more sustainable cities.
Increasing and Mapping Greenery:
One of the most impactful things cities can do to combat heat is plant trees and vegetation. Trees provide shade, deflect sunlight, and release moisture into the air, making areas with trees and vegetation measurably cooler than areas without.
Under Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s leadership, the city of Salt Lake City, UT has committed to planting 1,000 trees per year to the City’s west side where the majority of residents are people of color and the air quality is the poorest. According to the City’s Urban Forest Master Plan, the east side has approximately twice the canopy as the west side. Despite experiencing frequent, prolonged droughts and being ever mindful of their water supply, Salt Lake City stresses the importance of watering trees because of the many benefits trees provide and because trees are more water efficient than most plants. Mayor Mendenhall has met or exceeded her goal each year since taking office; this year, the city is on track to plant 5,000 trees on the west side.
Additionally, Salt Lake City recently amended their landscaping and buffer ordinance which requires 33% of a yard or park strip to be covered with plants, including trees. Of those plants, 100% must be drought tolerant or native species. Additionally, the ordinance limits the amount of rock ground cover that can be in a yard. While rock yards do not require water to maintain, they increase heat and place stress on surrounding plants.
Cleveland, OH recently partnered with the Student Conservation Association and the Center for Regenerative Solutions to start the Community Forestry Corps Program. The program allows students to participate in tree care, forestry management, and heat mapping and it allows the city to make data-informed decisions. The program will prioritize increasing tree canopy in the City’s Black and brown communities where tree canopy is significantly less than the established baseline cover of 30%. Urban tree canopy is directly related to equity, “The data tells us that in cities and neighborhoods where there’s a lack of a robust tree canopy, you have higher rates of violent crime, higher rates of heart disease, higher rates of asthma,” explains Mayor Bibb. The Community Forestry Corps Program will help indicate where trees are needed most. This program is funded by $3.4 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Protecting Workers:
In Tucson, Mayor Regina Romero adopted a worker heat protection ordinance for city workers and contractors which mandates that workers have access to cool water, hydration breaks, and shade and/or air conditioning. The ordinance also requires that workers are trained on how to recognize the signs of heat illness and injury and how to administer first aid for heat related illness.
State law preempts cities in Florida and Texas from requiring rest and water breaks for workers, and heat related protections are expected to remain under attack by the business lobby and conservative leaning state legislatures. While employers are required by OSHA to protect their workers in a general sense, there is no heat-specific federal legislation.
Additionally, Tucson adopted a heat action roadmap which provides 61 action items to mitigate the effects of extreme heat. The roadmap has three main goals: informing, preparing and protecting people; cooling people’s homes and community centers; and cooling Tucson neighborhoods. Some of the action items include standardizing heat alerts, offering training and supplies for city workers, and providing transportation to heat relief locations.
Innovation:
In recent years, Phoenix, AZ has been experimenting with cool pavement, a light gray coating for roads that reflects the sun’s rays. Cool pavement reduces the amount of heat that is absorbed into the ground meaning that less heat is emitted after dark. There is a trade off though: cool pavement keeps the surface of roads cooler, but the glare from the coating means that pedestrians standing on the road during the sun’s peak hours feel warmer. However, experts argue that pedestrians typically walk on sidewalks, not directly on coated roads. Further, cool pavement makes the biggest difference in the evening when many people are out walking and biking after work. There is also data to show that the coating helps to extend pavement lifespan by reducing cracks caused by heat, saving cities maintenance costs.
Community Resources: Pools and Splash Pads
Many residents opt to seek relief from heat at public pools. Unfortunately, pools across the nation are facing a lifeguard shortage which has caused many pools to cut back on hours this summer. To hire more lifeguards, many municipalities have offered to cover the cost of lifeguard certifications, increased pay, and/or offered sign-on bonuses to early applicants.
Some cities have opted to replace their pools and build splash pads. Splash pads can be a more cost effective option because they often require less maintenance and staff. However, critics argue that splash pads are less appealing to adults and aren’t as accessible to differently-abled individuals.
Additional resources:
- The CDC’s HeatRisk dashboard shows you the heat risk in your community, the forecast for heat risk in coming days, and protective measures that residents can take to stay cool.
- Urban Heat Islands 101 from Resources for the Future explains the science behind heat islands, who is most affected by them, and how cities can work to reduce their effects.
- OSHA offers free worker training resources including how to administer first aid and a fully customizable heat-illness prevention plan.
Photo by Lydia Venjohn on Unsplash.