By Quincy Midthun • Mayors Innovation Project
Across the country, cities are heating up. Extreme heat not only creates extreme discomfort, it strains the grid and endangers the health and safety of residents, particularly in neighborhoods that lack greenery, which are disproportionately home to communities of color and low income communities. At the Summer 2025 Meeting in Albuquerque, NM, Mayor Kate Gallego (Phoenix, AZ), Mayor Tim Keller (Albuquerque, NM), and Mayor Travis Stovall (Gresham, OR) joined policy experts Kate Wright, Executive Director of Climate Mayors, and Rae Ulrich, Senior Director of the Ten Across Initiative at Arizona State University, to discuss how cities, even those in northern states that are not traditionally thought of as having issues with heat, are taking steps to mitigate extreme heat and to share tangible best practices that city leaders can implement in their communities. Below is a brief summary of that panel discussion.
The importance of a plan
Heat plans are critical as temperatures rise to make sure communities are prepared, increase transparency and community trust, and to measure progress. Phoenix, AZ, the hottest city in the country, and Albuquerque, NM both have heat plans that map out which areas and which populations are most susceptible to extreme heat and what steps they can take to mitigate extreme heat. But heat plans aren’t just for big cities. Increasingly, smaller cities and cities in the northern parts of the nation are also thinking about and preparing for extreme heat.
Gresham, OR, located in the Pacific Northwest, is currently drafting and implementing an extreme heat plan after a deadly heatwave struck the City in 2021. The plan is especially focused on the areas of the City that were struck the hardest by the heat wave. “What we’re doing now is taking a hard look at our Rockwood area [and others like it] to ensure we’re mitigating these heat islands where we don’t have the tree canopy, where we don’t have the cooling infrastructure, [and] where we have high rates of low occupancy vehicle traffic that increases heat,” said Mayor Stovall. Gresham’s heat plan was drafted in three phases: first auditing the City code to identify opportunities for action, then collaborating with City departments to create a shared understanding of the impacts of extreme heat and develop implementation strategies, and finally working with the broader community to discuss what green infrastructure should look like and where it should be located.
Prioritizing shade
Shade is a critical piece to keeping cities cool, and trees and greenery are one way to provide shade for communities. Mayor Keller spoke about how Albuquerque had once promoted zeroscaping, a landscaping method that was especially popular in the 2010s that incentivized minimal or no plants in favor of rocks and gravel to save water. “The real mistake in what we did was [losing] the trees. We should’ve said take out your grass but leave the trees. Now we’re trying to fix that,” explained Mayor Keller. In 2019, when the City had less than 10% canopy cover, Mayor Keller’s administration launched “Let’s Plant ABQ,” a coordinated effort among the City, regional organizations, and community partners to plant 100,000 trees, especially native trees, across the city by 2030. Despite the pandemic and more recent cuts to federal funding, the City continues to make progress towards this goal and targets areas like the International District which has fewer trees and a larger proportion of low-income residents.
Phoenix uses man-made shade structures to help cool the City in a way that is both functional and fun. Using a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the City paid artists to create innovative shade structures. Mayor Gallego explained that when she first took office, the City Code prohibited structures to be built over public walkways. Since then, they have amended the code and the City encourages shade structures to be built over walkways. In turn, sidewalks are cooler and the City is more walkable.
Protections for vulnerable populations
Panelists spoke about policies to protect workers and tenants. In April, Albuquerque City Council passed an ordinance requiring all rental properties to have cooling systems. Many cities and states have laws requiring landlords to have heating systems or to keep a minimum temperature, but fewer mandate cooling systems. These ordinances support the comfort, health, and safety of tenants.
In 2024, Phoenix passed an ordinance to protect outdoor workers, requiring employers who operate under a City of Phoenix contract, lease, or license to create plans to reduce heat related illnesses and injuries and to provide water, rest breaks, shade, and training to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat stress. Unfortunately, an ordinance like this is not feasible for all cities; Florida and Texas preempt cities from requiring rest and water breaks for workers. While employers are required by OSHA to protect their workers in a general sense, there is no heat-specific federal legislation.
Implications for the built environment
Finally, panelists spoke to the importance of addressing the root cause of extreme heat, carbon emissions. Buildings often make up the largest portion of a city’s carbon footprint and are the greatest area of opportunity for cities to reduce their contributions to the warming of the climate. Mayor Stovall and Mayor Keller shared that when their cities build new buildings, design features like overhangs that provide shade and lighter colored materials are increasingly important. Mayors also shared that they are incentivizing retrofits like new windows and heat pumps to make buildings more energy efficient.
Key takeaways:
- Focus your messaging on your residents. When making the case for investments in heat resilience, panelists emphasized centering messaging on the everyday experiences of their residents. For example: “Extreme heat prevents children from using the playground,” or “Extreme heat creates unsafe working conditions for our firefighters.” Equally important is sharing the positive impacts of these investments. “It’s a great day as Mayor when a little kid says, ‘now I can use the slide’. Those are tangible moments,” said Mayor Gallego.
- Advocate at the national level for funding and protections. The panelists raised the statistic that extreme heat kills more people than hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes combined, yet FEMA doesn’t count heat waves as a natural disaster. This makes cities ineligible for federal aid after a disaster—critical funds that could help cities make changes to prevent future disasters. One thing mayors can do to address this is advocate for protections and funding for heat resilience at the state and federal levels. For example, Rae Ulrich and Kate Wright spoke about the importance of advocating for federal grants and programs like LIHEAP which provides assistance for cooling bills for low-income residents.
- Don’t wait for a disaster to happen. Start planning today. Finally, panelists emphasized the importance of having a heat plan and investing in infrastructure and programs to mitigate heat. Cities save lives and money in the long-term by investing in resilient infrastructure before a disaster strikes. “We can’t afford not to address this,” said Ulrich. Knowing which areas of your city are most affected by extreme heat and who is most affected helps you prepare for disasters and mitigate harm.
Resources shared from the panel:
- Climate Mayors has an extreme heat cohort where mayors can share best practices on heat mitigation. Fill out this form to join.
- Climate Mayors has a tax credit campaign and a toolkit that includes resources on how to spread the word about clean energy tax credits while they’re still available.
- Ten Across published their Framework for a Heat-Ready Nation in collaboration with the American Federation of Scientists last month. It features data and best practices cities can use to prepare themselves for extreme heat.
- Each month Ten Across convenes their Resilience Network of Chief Resilience, Sustainability, and Heat Officers from across the southern tier of the U.S. Reach out to Rae Ulrich (rae.ulrich@asu.edu) to get involved.
- American Forests is a nonprofit that supports equitable tree canopy coverage. Reach out to sign the tree equity pledge and be connected to resources and funding opportunities to support your city’s tree canopy.