Slides from The Environment as a Social Determinant of Health – Heat

1. Toward Health Equity
on a Warming Planet
Engaging Communities in
Addressing Urban Heat
Vivek Shandas, Professor
Portland State University

2. The Climate Age
Source: Yale e360, NOAA

3. Experiences Today

4. Urban heat is a key urban policy challenge
Policymakers and health care
practitioners often lack evidence on
urban heat and its impacts.

5. Historic Trauma

6. Case study: Richmond, Virginia (USA).
Detailed heat data generated through a citizen heat watch campaign
showed temperature differences exceeding 18-degrees Fahrenheit.

7. Case study: Richmond, USA
Heat difference of up to 10C: low-
income and minority neighborhoods
most affected.
Detailed heat mapping pinpoints the
influence of tree cover and
impervious surfaces.

8. Case study: Richmond, USA
Heat difference of up to 10C: low-
income and minority neighborhoods
most affected.
Detailed heat mapping pinpoints the
influence of tree cover and
impervious surfaces.

9. Case study: Richmond, USA
Heat difference of up to 10C: low-
income and minority neighborhoods
most affected.
Detailed heat mapping pinpoints the
influence of tree cover and
impervious surfaces.

10. Limited Change
Impervious
Tree Canopy
Conscious and Deliberate Planning
1. Greater amount of asphalt and pavement
2. Highway projects and big box stores
3. Large-scale housing projects
4. Industrial facilities
5. Lack of parks and green spaces
https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?useExisting=
1&layers=ef0f926eb1b146d082c38cc35b53c947
Interactive Map Link

11. Conscious and Deliberate Planning
1. Greater amount of asphalt and pavement
2. Highway projects and big box stores
3. Large-scale housing projects
4. Industrial facilities
5. Lack of parks and green spaces
Hoffman, Shandas, & Pendelton, 2020
Impervious
Tree Canopy

12. Redlining & Temperature Differences
Hoffman, Shandas, & Pendelton, 2020

13. Gentrification?
Population
Change
(1980
–
2016)

14. Current Approach
Satellite Images
Strengths
1. Freely available for all regions of the world
2. Seasonal variability
3. Intra-urban variation in temperatures
observable
4. Extensive literature and research
5. Potential connections to land use
Weaknesses
1. Exaggerates temperature ranges
2. Coarse pixel sizes
3. Rooftops, not experiential
4. Discrete differences between land covers
5. Translation to policy remains unclear

15. Heat Watch
Engagement
Model
Engage communities in
describing and localizing
climate-induced hazards
Develop analytical tools for
examining scenarios of
adaptation actions
Support capacity building
efforts through engagement
of decision makers and
community groups

16. How it Works
Engage Locally
Collaborate with
social/environmental justice
organizations and individuals
to support heat action
Complete Campaign
Use materials provided to
engage volunteers in Heat
Watch campaign
Review Results &
Identify Actions
Deepen engagement through active
involvement in heat planning

17. Campaign Planning

18. Implementing a community-based urban heat assessment

19. Report output

20. Web map output
https://arcg.is/LzPjT

21. Promising Directions

22. Contact
Vivek Shandas
vshandas@pdx.edu