Extreme heat adaptation in urban areas: a comparative case study of New York City and New Orleans

ABSTRACT

As the risk of extreme heat in urban centres becomes more frequent and intense, a comparative case study of New York City, New York's and New Orleans, Louisiana's policy responses to dangerous heat highlights past approaches to protecting vulnerable populations, where improvements can be made to best suit local needs, and the areas where solutions may still be implemented. Two cities at the forefront of the climate crisis in the United States, their policy approaches are guided by their histories, their existing adaptations and behaviours, and the harsh reality the changing climate has wrought. New York City has prioritised cooling centres as a safety measure, as the city is regularly seeing hundreds of heat-related deaths per year, often in unairconditioned homes. New Orleans has prioritised the installation of back-up energy generation following mass blackouts caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021 and deaths of at least 10 residents in the resulting excessive heat exposure. In New York, census tracts with the highest percentage of Black, elderly, and foreign-born populations were most likely to have reduced access to a cooling centre. In New Orleans, tracts with the highest percentage of Black, elderly, unemployed, and impoverished populations were most likely to have reduced access to a cooling centre. Comparing both city's codes, regulations, and policies, reviewing their emergency management communication strategies on social media, and performing GIS analysis on cooling centre locations against vulnerability criteria paints a clear picture of where heat policy stands in both cities and where it could potentially expand.

KEYWORDS:

• Extreme heat
• climate adaptation
• New York City
• New Orleans
• heat policy
• cooling centre

Acknowledgements

Cooling centre maps were created using ArcGIS® software by Esri. ArcGIS® is the intellectual property of Esri and was used herein under license.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).