Heatwave Resilience and Social Vulnerability: Who Gets to Stay Cool in Europe’s Warming Cities?

Abstract:

As climate change accelerates, European cities face an increasing threat from extreme heat events. However, the risks and impacts of heatwaves are not distributed equally across urban populations. The paper explores the relation between heatwave resiliency and social vulnerabilities in four cities within Europe, Paris, Athens, Madrid, and Berlin, through a mixed-method investigation involving spatial, demographic, and policy analysis. The results show that the heat-vulnerable neighbourhoods are always the same as the low-income, elderly, and migrant communities, who, most of the time, do not have access to adaptive resources, including green spaces, cooling centres, and air conditioning. Although policies have committed to making plans for climate adaptation, the plans often lack incorporation of equity-based actions, spatial targeting or accountability mechanisms. The research proposes a paradigm shift to just climate adaptation and states that to enable the success of resilience efforts to limit climate-related harms, there is a necessity to recognize the investment priorities, inclusive governance, and grassroots planning. Focusing on social justice in the urban heat strategies, European cities can achieve more sustainable and fair climate visions in the future.