Investigating Social Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: Heat Islands and Climate Shelters in Urban Contexts: The Case of Bologna
In this article we present three instruments: (1) a social vulnerability to extreme heat index to identify the areas of a city (and populations thereof) more vulnerable to extreme heat due to climate change (heat islands); (2) a new overall fragility index that incorporates social vulnerability to e...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/14/1/17 |
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| author | Elisa Maccabiani Munazza Usmani Riccardo Nanni Maurizio Napolitano |
| author_facet | Elisa Maccabiani Munazza Usmani Riccardo Nanni Maurizio Napolitano |
| author_sort | Elisa Maccabiani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article we present three instruments: (1) a social vulnerability to extreme heat index to identify the areas of a city (and populations thereof) more vulnerable to extreme heat due to climate change (heat islands); (2) a new overall fragility index that incorporates social vulnerability to extreme heat as well as socioeconomic indicators; and (3) a climate shelter index (CSI) to identify areas within a city that can provide relief from extreme heat based on green and blue solutions. We elaborated these three indexes to measure social vulnerability to extreme heat in the municipality of Bologna, which serves as this article’s case study. By analyzing the connections between social vulnerability to extreme heat and several socio-demographic variables in Bologna, we found that a decrease in income is significantly correlated with an increase in social vulnerability to extreme heat in urban contexts. A comparison between our new overall fragility index and the existing index adopted by the municipality of Bologna (Indice di fragilità, Comune di Bologna) showed that about 75% of the statistical areas observed are worse off when social vulnerability to extreme heat is also considered. Considering social vulnerability to extreme heat shows vulnerabilities in a city (here: Bologna) that the pre-existing index did not consider. These findings and our new indexes can support the Bologna administration (and other local administrations) in addressing the consequences of climate change for their most vulnerable residents. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3fcda54e2b3a4ab791b574852ae2e23c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2220-9964 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| spelling | doaj-art-3fcda54e2b3a4ab791b574852ae2e23c2025-01-24T13:34:59ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642025-01-011411710.3390/ijgi14010017Investigating Social Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: Heat Islands and Climate Shelters in Urban Contexts: The Case of BolognaElisa Maccabiani0Munazza Usmani1Riccardo Nanni2Maurizio Napolitano3Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Digital Commons Lab, Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, ItalyFondazione Bruno Kessler, Digital Commons Lab, Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, ItalyFondazione Bruno Kessler, Digital Commons Lab, Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, ItalyFondazione Bruno Kessler, Digital Commons Lab, Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, ItalyIn this article we present three instruments: (1) a social vulnerability to extreme heat index to identify the areas of a city (and populations thereof) more vulnerable to extreme heat due to climate change (heat islands); (2) a new overall fragility index that incorporates social vulnerability to extreme heat as well as socioeconomic indicators; and (3) a climate shelter index (CSI) to identify areas within a city that can provide relief from extreme heat based on green and blue solutions. We elaborated these three indexes to measure social vulnerability to extreme heat in the municipality of Bologna, which serves as this article’s case study. By analyzing the connections between social vulnerability to extreme heat and several socio-demographic variables in Bologna, we found that a decrease in income is significantly correlated with an increase in social vulnerability to extreme heat in urban contexts. A comparison between our new overall fragility index and the existing index adopted by the municipality of Bologna (Indice di fragilità, Comune di Bologna) showed that about 75% of the statistical areas observed are worse off when social vulnerability to extreme heat is also considered. Considering social vulnerability to extreme heat shows vulnerabilities in a city (here: Bologna) that the pre-existing index did not consider. These findings and our new indexes can support the Bologna administration (and other local administrations) in addressing the consequences of climate change for their most vulnerable residents.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/14/1/17climate sheltersheat islandsurban studiesinequalityclimate change |
| spellingShingle | Elisa Maccabiani Munazza Usmani Riccardo Nanni Maurizio Napolitano Investigating Social Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: Heat Islands and Climate Shelters in Urban Contexts: The Case of Bologna ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information climate shelters heat islands urban studies inequality climate change |
| title | Investigating Social Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: Heat Islands and Climate Shelters in Urban Contexts: The Case of Bologna |
| title_full | Investigating Social Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: Heat Islands and Climate Shelters in Urban Contexts: The Case of Bologna |
| title_fullStr | Investigating Social Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: Heat Islands and Climate Shelters in Urban Contexts: The Case of Bologna |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating Social Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: Heat Islands and Climate Shelters in Urban Contexts: The Case of Bologna |
| title_short | Investigating Social Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: Heat Islands and Climate Shelters in Urban Contexts: The Case of Bologna |
| title_sort | investigating social vulnerability to extreme heat heat islands and climate shelters in urban contexts the case of bologna |
| topic | climate shelters heat islands urban studies inequality climate change |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/14/1/17 |
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