Speaker
Description
The multiple impacts of climate change, such as floods, heavy rainfall, and heat waves, pose major challenges to cities and their inhabitants. In order to protect urban residents from these threats implementing targeted adaptation measures is essential especially in particularly affected areas and for vulnerable groups. In this context, assessing heat-related health risks is extremely challenging and complex, as it involves understanding and considering three dimensions: hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Integrated approaches assessing all these dimensions are rare due to the lack of small-scale and subjective data.
To address the gap in local data on heat perception and behavior, an online household survey was conducted in early September 2024 as part of a PhD-project. This study addresses two key questions and takes a closer look at two case studies, Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, in Germany:
1. Which population groups are most affected by urban heat?
2. Where in the city and in which everyday situations, such as living, working and mobility, are adaptation measures most needed?
The survey focused on six districts that were selected based on a GIS analysis of the cities´ heat maps and are particularly hot. The sample households were randomly selected through the distribution of flyers to mailboxes. To ensure a high participation, the survey is available in the five most common languages of the districts (German, English, Arabic, Turkish and Russian) and focuses on heat perception, behavior during heat waves, exposure and adaptation strategies in various everyday situations (housing, work, public transport), and socio-demographic characteristics.
The results based on a statistical analysis show significant differences in heat perception between the cities, everyday situations, and socio-demographic groups (the p-value is set to 5% or less). In both cities, the perception of heat stress is highest when walking in the city center and when using public transport. Compared to other situations with lower average ranks (e.g. at home during the day, at work, or when walking in the immediate residential area), these differences in distribution are statistically significant for both cities. Furthermore, heat perception on public transport differs significantly between the two cities, being higher in Dresden than in Frankfurt/Main. No other significant deviations in heat perception in general or during other everyday situations can be detected between the cities and districts.
A closer look at the socio-demographic groups reveals some significant differences: In both cities, women report higher levels of heat stress than men when walking in the city center and in the immediate residential area. In Dresden, this is also true for public transport and at work. Health status also influences heat perception, especially in Dresden, where people with lower health status experience significantly higher heat stress in general, at home, when walking outside and on public transport. In Frankfurt/Main, this is only reported when walking in the neighborhood. Singles without children in Dresden perceive less heat than couples with children when walking in the immediate neighborhood and in the city center. In addition, individuals living on the top floor in Dresden are significantly more affected by heat at home during the day and at night than those who live on the ground floor. No such differences can be found in Frankfurt/Main.
In conclusion, the findings highlight the urgent need for spatially and socially differentiated adaptation strategies in the districts of Dresden and Frankfurt/Main. Further steps will include qualitative interviews with experts and local stakeholders to validate the results and gain a more comprehensive understanding of heat stress at the local level. This knowledge is necessary to develop targeted strategies for adaptation to climate change in the two cities.
| Keywords | climate change adaptation; urban heat; vulnerable population; household survey |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
