Vulnerability Assessment of a Highly Populated Megacity to Ambient Thermal Stress

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Sustainability (Switzerland)

Abstract

The urban ambient environment is directly responsible for the health conditions of millions of people. Comfortable living space is a significant aspect that urban policymakers need to address for sustainable planning. There is still a notable lack of studies that link the spatial profile of urban climate with city-specific built-up settings while assessing the vulnerability of the city population. Geospatial approaches can be beneficial in evaluating patterns of thermal discomfort and strategizing its mitigation. This study attempts to provide a thorough remote sensing framework to analyze the summer magnitude of thermal discomfort for a city in a tropical hot and humid climate. Spatial profiles of dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature and relative humidity were prepared for this purpose. A simultaneous assessment of various discomfort indices indicated the presence of moderate to strong heat stress to a vast extent within the study area. The central business district (CBD) of the city indicated a ‘danger’ level of heat disorder for outdoor exposure cases. Nearly 0.69 million people were vulnerable to a moderate threat from humid heat stress, and around 0.21 million citizens faced strong heat stress. Combing city morphology in the study showed that mid-rise buildings had the maximum contribution in terms of thermal discomfort. City areas with built-up cover of more than 68%, along with building height between 5.8 m and 9.3 m, created the worst outdoor discomfort situations. Better land management prospects were also investigated through a multicriteria approach using morphological settlement zones, wind direction, pavement watering, building regulations and future landscaping plans. East–west-aligned road segments of a total 38.44 km length were delineated for water spray cooling and greener pavements. This study is likely to provide solutions for enhancing ambient urban health.

DOI

10.3390/su16083395

Publication Date

4-1-2024

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