develop a range of innovative urban planning strategies.|Course hero helper
Posted: February 26th, 2023
All reflection discussions must be 1-2 pages (approx. 500 words) and use APA citation style.
- Provide citations for 2 readings (APA citation style)
- Provide a summary for each reading
- Discuss the major theme(s) or argument(s) of each reading
- In 1-2 paragraphs, discuss your thoughts on the readings and how they connect to the week’s lesson.
Yale Environment 360
Can We Turn Down the Temperature on Urban Heat Islands? Using citizen science volunteers, researchers are more accurately measuring temperature differences between city hot spots and their cooler surroundings. With heat waves intensifying, the results are now being used to
develop a range of innovative urban planning strategies.
BY J IM MORRISON • SEPTEMBER 1 2 , 201 9
he volunteers fanned out across cities from Boston to Honolulu this summer, with
inexpensive thermal monitors resembling tiny periscopes attached to their vehicles to
collect data on street-level temperatures. Signs on their cars announcing “Science Project in
Progress” explained their plodding pace — no more than 30 miles-per-hour to capture the dramatic
temperature differences from tree-shaded parks to sun-baked parking lots to skyscraper-dominated
downtowns.
�e work of these citizen scientists is part of a new way of studying the urban heat island effect, with
volunteers mapping two dozen cities worldwide in recent years. Past studies of urban heat islands — in
which metropolitan areas experience significantly higher temperatures than their surroundings — have
relied on satellite data that measures the temperature reflected off rooftops and streets. But Vivek
Shandas, a professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University in Oregon and a
researcher leading the project, says the urban heat island effect is more complicated and subtler than
satellite data indicates.
“�ere’s much more nuance within the city,” Shandas says. “What we’re finding is that there’s upwards
of 15- to 20-degree Fahrenheit differences within a city. In fact, a city could have the same temperature
reading in one area as its rural or forested counterpart.”
On-the-ground data clearly demonstrate a correlation between lower-income neighborhoods and higher temperatures.
A Chicago resident struggles with triple-digit temperatures during a heat wave in 2012. AP PHOTO/M. SPENCER GREEN
12/23/2020 Can We Turn Down the Temperature on Urban Heat Islands? – Yale E360
https://e360.yale.edu/features/can-we-turn-down-the-temperature-on-urban-heat-islands 2/6
ALSO ON YALE E360
From high above, a new way of seeing our
urban planet. Read more.
By understanding in detail where hot spots are located, cities can address extreme heat neighborhood-
by-neighborhood, choosing from a variety of strategies that include removing or whitewashing black
asphalt or roof surfaces, adding more trees for shade, requiring developers to vary the heights of new
buildings to increase airflow, and opening more public air-conditioned spaces.
Using Shandas’ research, Portland, the first city Shandas and his team surveyed, has proposed zoning
code amendments and strategies targeting urban heat, including limiting paved neighborhood
parking areas and increasing space for trees. In addition, city officials said that Shandas’ on-the-ground
data clearly demonstrated a correlation between lower-income neighborhoods and higher
temperatures. Shandas’ work also showed that the places where lower-income people often work, such
as the industrial areas along Portland’s rivers, also experience higher-than-average temperatures, the
officials said.
Other urban he
SOLUTION
- Morrison’s (2019) article “Can We Turn Down the Temperature on Urban Heat Islands?” published in the Yale Environment 360 magazine, highlights the use of citizen science volunteers and inexpensive thermal monitors to collect data on street-level temperatures across two dozen cities worldwide. The data is used to study the urban heat island effect, where metropolitan areas experience significantly higher temperatures than their surroundings. The article explains that the urban heat island effect is more complicated and subtler than satellite data indicates. On-the-ground data clearly demonstrate a correlation between lower-income neighborhoods and higher temperatures. The results of the study are being used to develop a range of innovative urban planning strategies to reduce the impact of heat waves.
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