Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107055
Ahmet Faruk Kilicaslan, Ibrahim Dincer
This study introduces a newly designed hybrid multigeneration system that integrates anaerobic digestion, solar photovoltaic panels, and bioelectrochemical cells to convert wastewater into electricity, hydrogen and domestic hot water in order to achieve sustainable cities. The system is designed to potentially consider the Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant in Toronto, using both solar and biogas resources for energy production. Key system components include a steam Rankine cycle, an organic Rankine cycle, and a microbial fuel cell-microbial electrolysis cell unit, which together support simultaneous waste treatment and clean energy generation. The designed system has an overall energy efficiency of 38.88 % and exergy efficiency of 31.36 %. The system achieves a net electrical output of 13.66 MW, while producing 0.07 kg/s of hydrogen and two streams of thermal energy at different temperatures to meet residential and industrial demands. The generated hydrogen is then liquefied and stored at a nearby refueling station located at the Toronto port, where it is utilized to fuel marine vessels such as boats and ships. The parametric studies demonstrate that boiler efficiency, biogas yield, and reference temperature significantly affect system performance. The proposed configuration offers a scalable solution for integrating renewable energy with wastewater treatment and hydrogen infrastructure for sustainable urban applications.
{"title":"Design of an innovative hydrogen ecosystem integrating renewable energy options with wastewater management for a sustainable city","authors":"Ahmet Faruk Kilicaslan, Ibrahim Dincer","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107055","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107055","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study introduces a newly designed hybrid multigeneration system that integrates anaerobic digestion, solar photovoltaic panels, and bioelectrochemical cells to convert wastewater into electricity, hydrogen and domestic hot water in order to achieve sustainable cities. The system is designed to potentially consider the Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant in Toronto, using both solar and biogas resources for energy production. Key system components include a steam Rankine cycle, an organic Rankine cycle, and a microbial fuel cell-microbial electrolysis cell unit, which together support simultaneous waste treatment and clean energy generation. The designed system has an overall energy efficiency of 38.88 % and exergy efficiency of 31.36 %. The system achieves a net electrical output of 13.66 MW, while producing 0.07 kg/s of hydrogen and two streams of thermal energy at different temperatures to meet residential and industrial demands. The generated hydrogen is then liquefied and stored at a nearby refueling station located at the Toronto port, where it is utilized to fuel marine vessels such as boats and ships. The parametric studies demonstrate that boiler efficiency, biogas yield, and reference temperature significantly affect system performance. The proposed configuration offers a scalable solution for integrating renewable energy with wastewater treatment and hydrogen infrastructure for sustainable urban applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107055"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107075
Huyan Fu , Jianghai Wen , Zihan Liu , Jiufeng Li , Jiaxi Li , Zhiru Chen
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Contrasting frequency of global canopy and surface urban heat island” [Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 133, 1 October 2025, 106857]","authors":"Huyan Fu , Jianghai Wen , Zihan Liu , Jiufeng Li , Jiaxi Li , Zhiru Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107075","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107075","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107075"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145977619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107108
Sara Cruz , Maria Luísa Scharlau , Luísa Batista
As climate change increasingly exposes urban populations to extreme weather events, adaptation strategies go beyond physical interventions to address social vulnerabilities. This paper proposes a methodological framework for designing climate shelter systems that integrate social infrastructure into climate-responsive planning. Grounded in the concept of community resilience, the approach combines top-down and bottom-up strategies to identify, evaluate, and adapt existing public and social spaces for use as climate shelters. The methodology is applied to a case study in the Bonfim parish of Porto, Portugal; an area characterised by socio-economic deprivation, aging infrastructure, and climate vulnerability. The framework consists of two phases: criteria-based site selection (combining indicators and spatial analysis using GIS software) and participatory engagement (interviews with residents and stakeholders) to assess suitability, perceptions, and behavioural responses to climate events. Specifically, 32 interviews were conducted as part of the case study. The outcome is a multi-layered shelter network encompassing outdoor, indoor, emergency, and vulnerable-group-specific spaces, tailored to the local context. The findings underscore the dual role of climate shelters as protective infrastructure and as catalysts for social cohesion, climate literacy and public engagement. The study emphasises the need to integrate climate adaptation into everyday urban practices and highlights the role of efficient governance, communication, and monitoring. By leveraging social infrastructure, climate shelters can evolve from emergency responses into long-term assets that strengthen adaptive capacity and promote climate justice. The proposed methodology is transferable across diverse urban contexts, with the necessary adjustments, offering practical guidance for cities aiming to operationalise equitable and inclusive climate adaptation strategies.
{"title":"A methodological proposal to design climate shelter systems: The role of social infrastructure in climate adaptation strategies","authors":"Sara Cruz , Maria Luísa Scharlau , Luísa Batista","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As climate change increasingly exposes urban populations to extreme weather events, adaptation strategies go beyond physical interventions to address social vulnerabilities. This paper proposes a methodological framework for designing climate shelter systems that integrate social infrastructure into climate-responsive planning. Grounded in the concept of community resilience, the approach combines top-down and bottom-up strategies to identify, evaluate, and adapt existing public and social spaces for use as climate shelters. The methodology is applied to a case study in the Bonfim parish of Porto, Portugal; an area characterised by socio-economic deprivation, aging infrastructure, and climate vulnerability. The framework consists of two phases: criteria-based site selection (combining indicators and spatial analysis using GIS software) and participatory engagement (interviews with residents and stakeholders) to assess suitability, perceptions, and behavioural responses to climate events. Specifically, 32 interviews were conducted as part of the case study. The outcome is a multi-layered shelter network encompassing outdoor, indoor, emergency, and vulnerable-group-specific spaces, tailored to the local context. The findings underscore the dual role of climate shelters as protective infrastructure and as catalysts for social cohesion, climate literacy and public engagement. The study emphasises the need to integrate climate adaptation into everyday urban practices and highlights the role of efficient governance, communication, and monitoring. By leveraging social infrastructure, climate shelters can evolve from emergency responses into long-term assets that strengthen adaptive capacity and promote climate justice. The proposed methodology is transferable across diverse urban contexts, with the necessary adjustments, offering practical guidance for cities aiming to operationalise equitable and inclusive climate adaptation strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107108"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107098
Hongfei Li , Jun Yang , Wenbo Yu , Jiayi Ren , Jiaxing Xin , Xiangming Xiao , Jianhong (Cecilia) Xia
Global climate change has pushed cities to the forefront of climate mitigation efforts. However, the relationship between urban wind and thermal conditions has rarely been simulated at the city scale. In this study, we applied the local climate zone (LCZ) framework and circuit theory to the Shenyang central urban area, Liaoning Province, China, to analyze correlations between the urban ventilation effect (UVE), wind speed, and land surface temperature (LST) in 2020. Finally, we identified zones with a poor combined wind–thermal environment using bivariate local spatial autocorrelation. We present the following major findings. (1) The UVE in the study area was better under gentle-breeze conditions than light-breeze conditions. Spatially, the UVE was best in the east and west, worst in the north and south, and relatively poor in the central area. (2) In summer, the LST was significantly higher in the central area than in peripheral areas, and high-temperature zones were extensive, continuous, and concentrated. LCZ8 and LCZG showed the highest and lowest average LST, respectively. (3) A significant negative correlation was observed between LST and the UVE (−0.44); LCZ4 and LCZ8 showed the highest and lowest wind–thermal correlations (−0.45 and −0.25), respectively. (4) Improving the UVE effectively reduced LST; the maximum LST reduction among built-up-types and land-cover-types LCZ types reached 2.62 °C (LCZ10) and 6.54 °C (LCZE), respectively. (5) LST and UVE showed significant negative spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s I = −0.391), with zones of poor combined wind–thermal conditions predominantly located in LCZ2 and LCZ8 (>50 % of all zones).
{"title":"Spatiotemporal correlation of wind-thermal environments and optimization of wind-thermal dual disadvantage zones","authors":"Hongfei Li , Jun Yang , Wenbo Yu , Jiayi Ren , Jiaxing Xin , Xiangming Xiao , Jianhong (Cecilia) Xia","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107098","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107098","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global climate change has pushed cities to the forefront of climate mitigation efforts. However, the relationship between urban wind and thermal conditions has rarely been simulated at the city scale. In this study, we applied the local climate zone (LCZ) framework and circuit theory to the Shenyang central urban area, Liaoning Province, China, to analyze correlations between the urban ventilation effect (UVE), wind speed, and land surface temperature (LST) in 2020. Finally, we identified zones with a poor combined wind–thermal environment using bivariate local spatial autocorrelation. We present the following major findings. (1) The UVE in the study area was better under gentle-breeze conditions than light-breeze conditions. Spatially, the UVE was best in the east and west, worst in the north and south, and relatively poor in the central area. (2) In summer, the LST was significantly higher in the central area than in peripheral areas, and high-temperature zones were extensive, continuous, and concentrated. LCZ8 and LCZG showed the highest and lowest average LST, respectively. (3) A significant negative correlation was observed between LST and the UVE (−0.44); LCZ4 and LCZ8 showed the highest and lowest wind–thermal correlations (−0.45 and −0.25), respectively. (4) Improving the UVE effectively reduced LST; the maximum LST reduction among built-up-types and land-cover-types LCZ types reached 2.62 °C (LCZ10) and 6.54 °C (LCZE), respectively. (5) LST and UVE showed significant negative spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s <em>I</em> = −0.391), with zones of poor combined wind–thermal conditions predominantly located in LCZ2 and LCZ8 (>50 % of all zones).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107098"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107080
Sijie Zhu , Hui Wang , Meifang Su , Xing Shi , Weiting Xiong
Extreme urban heat and heatwaves are increasingly threatening public health. Although numerous design strategies have been proposed to mitigate outdoor thermal stress, most studies evaluate individual strategies in isolation and often focus on a single time of day, resulting in a lack of quantitative, diurnally dynamic analyses across multiple approaches. This gap limits planners’ and policymakers’ ability to make evidence-based, context-specific decisions for effective urban heat mitigation. Here, we develop and apply an open-source CFD–thermal comfort workflow that explicitly couples vegetation heat, moisture, and radiation effects at every modeling stage. Using high-resolution urban morphology data for Nanjing, China, we generate 30 representative block-scale scenarios to systematically compare five common urban design strategies. Across these scenarios, vegetation-based interventions lower mean air temperature by 0.3–1.3 °C and mean radiant temperature (MRT) by up to 7.2 °C, and reduce physiological equivalent temperature (PET) by as much as 1.9 °C at peak heat (14:00), while building-based strategies have negligible effects on air temperature and deliver relatively smaller PET reductions (up to 1.3 °C). Green-coverage strategies provide the broadest and most persistent relief, maintaining PET reductions above 1.8 °C from 13:00 to 17:00, whereas high tree ratios produce stronger local shading but benefits decay rapidly after 14:00. Building-density and building-height strategies also suppress extreme MRT, with reductions of 3.4–4.4 °C and a strong dependence on solar angle. For density, however, part of the MRT-driven PET benefit is offset by reduced ventilation, whereas increased building height preserves airflow and yields more efficient PET reductions. Marginal PET gains show clear thresholds, with the largest improvements occurring between 27 and 32 % green coverage and between 60–70 % tree ratio, followed by saturation at higher levels. By linking these quantitative cooling patterns to strategy-specific mechanisms and mapping strategies to objectives and site constraints, our framework delivers actionable guidance for urban heat mitigation.
{"title":"Spatial and diurnal dynamics of heat mitigation strategies: a comparative analysis using an open-source CFD–thermal comfort workflow coupling vegetation heat and moisture","authors":"Sijie Zhu , Hui Wang , Meifang Su , Xing Shi , Weiting Xiong","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107080","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107080","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Extreme urban heat and heatwaves are increasingly threatening public health. Although numerous design strategies have been proposed to mitigate outdoor thermal stress, most studies evaluate individual strategies in isolation and often focus on a single time of day, resulting in a lack of quantitative, diurnally dynamic analyses across multiple approaches. This gap limits planners’ and policymakers’ ability to make evidence-based, context-specific decisions for effective urban heat mitigation. Here, we develop and apply an open-source CFD–thermal comfort workflow that explicitly couples vegetation heat, moisture, and radiation effects at every modeling stage. Using high-resolution urban morphology data for Nanjing, China, we generate 30 representative block-scale scenarios to systematically compare five common urban design strategies. Across these scenarios, vegetation-based interventions lower mean air temperature by 0.3–1.3 °C and mean radiant temperature (MRT) by up to 7.2 °C, and reduce physiological equivalent temperature (PET) by as much as 1.9 °C at peak heat (14:00), while building-based strategies have negligible effects on air temperature and deliver relatively smaller PET reductions (up to 1.3 °C). Green-coverage strategies provide the broadest and most persistent relief, maintaining PET reductions above 1.8 °C from 13:00 to 17:00, whereas high tree ratios produce stronger local shading but benefits decay rapidly after 14:00. Building-density and building-height strategies also suppress extreme MRT, with reductions of 3.4–4.4 °C and a strong dependence on solar angle. For density, however, part of the MRT-driven PET benefit is offset by reduced ventilation, whereas increased building height preserves airflow and yields more efficient PET reductions. Marginal PET gains show clear thresholds, with the largest improvements occurring between 27 and 32 % green coverage and between 60–70 % tree ratio, followed by saturation at higher levels. By linking these quantitative cooling patterns to strategy-specific mechanisms and mapping strategies to objectives and site constraints, our framework delivers actionable guidance for urban heat mitigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107080"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107060
Qiwen Cao , Aman Zhang , Rong Cong , Dan Zhao , Xiaochun Huang , Shanshan Ning , Xiaoran Xie
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Carbon sink potential and planning and governance strategies of ecological space in megacities: A case study of Beijing” [Sustainable Cities and Society 136 (2026) 12/107036]","authors":"Qiwen Cao , Aman Zhang , Rong Cong , Dan Zhao , Xiaochun Huang , Shanshan Ning , Xiaoran Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107060","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107060","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107060"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145977618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107115
Ali Zarei
Climate change and global warming, coupled with population growth, have increased human exposure to heat stress, particularly during the warm months. While elevated thermal stress in unpopulated areas poses minimal risk, in densely inhabited regions it has significant implications for public health. Despite numerous studies on climate change in Iran, this study is particularly important as it directly addresses human populations and their exposure to thermal stress, with an emphasis on densely populated areas. The aim of this research is to analyze patterns of human exposure to cold and heat stress in Iran over a forty-year period (1985–2024) and to characterize the spatiotemporal variations of the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). For this purpose, the ERA5-HEAT reanalysis dataset was used to derive the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), while population exposure to thermal stress was assessed using GPWv4 population data. The results indicate that over the 40-year study period, UTCI increased significantly in all months, with stronger rises observed during the warm months compared to the cold months. Population assessments show that approximately 70 million people were exposed to cold stress during winter months, whereas over 30 million individuals experienced heat stress during summer months. The 40-year population trend highlights an increasing exposure to heat stress in summer and a decreasing exposure to cold stress in winter. Moreover, the findings indicate an intensification of heat stress since the early 2000s, with associated public health risks. These results underscore the necessity of national preventive strategies and planning to reduce heat-related morbidity and mortality during warm months and to enhance the country’s resilience and infrastructure.
{"title":"Assessment of temporal changes in human population exposure to cold and heat stress in Iran based on UTCI","authors":"Ali Zarei","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107115","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2026.107115","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change and global warming, coupled with population growth, have increased human exposure to heat stress, particularly during the warm months. While elevated thermal stress in unpopulated areas poses minimal risk, in densely inhabited regions it has significant implications for public health. Despite numerous studies on climate change in Iran, this study is particularly important as it directly addresses human populations and their exposure to thermal stress, with an emphasis on densely populated areas. The aim of this research is to analyze patterns of human exposure to cold and heat stress in Iran over a forty-year period (1985–2024) and to characterize the spatiotemporal variations of the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). For this purpose, the ERA5-HEAT reanalysis dataset was used to derive the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), while population exposure to thermal stress was assessed using GPWv4 population data. The results indicate that over the 40-year study period, UTCI increased significantly in all months, with stronger rises observed during the warm months compared to the cold months. Population assessments show that approximately 70 million people were exposed to cold stress during winter months, whereas over 30 million individuals experienced heat stress during summer months. The 40-year population trend highlights an increasing exposure to heat stress in summer and a decreasing exposure to cold stress in winter. Moreover, the findings indicate an intensification of heat stress since the early 2000s, with associated public health risks. These results underscore the necessity of national preventive strategies and planning to reduce heat-related morbidity and mortality during warm months and to enhance the country’s resilience and infrastructure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107115"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145927034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107110
Natalia Borzino , Samuel Chng , Renate Schubert
As cities across the globe grapple with rising temperatures, understanding public preferences for urban heat mitigation strategies is vital for building climate-resilient, citizen-centred urban environments. This study investigates Singaporean citizens’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for five urban heat mitigation measures—covered sidewalks, urban parks, electric vehicles, shaded plazas, and district cooling—across two contrasting districts: the residential neighbourhood of Punggol and the Central Business District (CBD). Based on a survey of 1870 residents (940 CBD and 930 Punggol), findings reveal a strong public preference for vegetative solutions, particularly covered sidewalks and urban parks, highlighting the perceived value of green infrastructure in mitigating urban heat stress. District-level differences emerged, with Punggol residents favouring shaded plazas and CBD respondents prioritizing district cooling, reflecting diverse urban needs and demographic profiles. WTP analysis demonstrated broad financial support across all five strategies, with the highest WTP observed for electric vehicles in Punggol and shaded plazas in the CBD. An extrapolated estimate suggests a potential annual societal WTP of SGD$102.8 million, underscoring the population’s readiness to invest in urban heat adaptation and sustainable futures. Socio-demographic, psychological, and behavioural predictors—such as age, education, health, presence of children, awareness of urban heat risks, attitudes towards heat mitigation, and outdoor preferences—were significantly associated with higher WTP, reinforcing the importance of targeted communication and socially inclusive engagement strategies. The findings also show that public preferences align closely with neighbourhood characteristics, underscoring the importance of integrating social and spatial dimensions into climate adaptation planning. The study provides critical insights for policymakers, advocating for a blended, place-based approach that combines nature-based and technological solutions, while emphasizing the role of participatory planning. By centring public preferences, this research contributes to the operationalization of urban resilience strategies in the face of escalating climate risks, and supports the development of equitable, adaptive, and sustainable cities.
{"title":"Public support for urban heat resilience: Preferences and willingness to pay for mitigation strategies in Singapore","authors":"Natalia Borzino , Samuel Chng , Renate Schubert","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107110","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107110","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As cities across the globe grapple with rising temperatures, understanding public preferences for urban heat mitigation strategies is vital for building climate-resilient, citizen-centred urban environments. This study investigates Singaporean citizens’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for five urban heat mitigation measures—covered sidewalks, urban parks, electric vehicles, shaded plazas, and district cooling—across two contrasting districts: the residential neighbourhood of Punggol and the Central Business District (CBD). Based on a survey of 1870 residents (940 CBD and 930 Punggol), findings reveal a strong public preference for vegetative solutions, particularly covered sidewalks and urban parks, highlighting the perceived value of green infrastructure in mitigating urban heat stress. District-level differences emerged, with Punggol residents favouring shaded plazas and CBD respondents prioritizing district cooling, reflecting diverse urban needs and demographic profiles. WTP analysis demonstrated broad financial support across all five strategies, with the highest WTP observed for electric vehicles in Punggol and shaded plazas in the CBD. An extrapolated estimate suggests a potential annual societal WTP of SGD$102.8 million, underscoring the population’s readiness to invest in urban heat adaptation and sustainable futures. Socio-demographic, psychological, and behavioural predictors—such as age, education, health, presence of children, awareness of urban heat risks, attitudes towards heat mitigation, and outdoor preferences—were significantly associated with higher WTP, reinforcing the importance of targeted communication and socially inclusive engagement strategies. The findings also show that public preferences align closely with neighbourhood characteristics, underscoring the importance of integrating social and spatial dimensions into climate adaptation planning. The study provides critical insights for policymakers, advocating for a blended, place-based approach that combines nature-based and technological solutions, while emphasizing the role of participatory planning. By centring public preferences, this research contributes to the operationalization of urban resilience strategies in the face of escalating climate risks, and supports the development of equitable, adaptive, and sustainable cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107110"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145926950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107113
Alok Das , Sayanti Poddar , Javed Mallick , Hoang Thi Hang , Swapan Talukdar
Urban ecological risks are intensifying due to climate change, land-use transitions, and socio-institutional disparities. In South Asia, Himalayan foothill cities such as Siliguri face compounded vulnerability from blue-green infrastructure loss, rising land surface temperature, and pollutant accumulation, particularly in socially marginalized wards. This study develops a spatially integrated urban ecological risk model for Siliguri by combining biophysical hazards, social vulnerability, and adaptive capacity at the ward level. A multi-step approach was applied: Random Forest classification and mono-window algorithms derived land use and land surface temperature (2003–2023); hazards included land surface temperature, built-up density, aerosol optical depth, road proximity, and gaseous pollutants; exposure was quantified using caste- and gender-disaggregated indicators; and adaptive capacity was assessed using access to key services and blue–green infrastructure, integrated through a Gamma overlay. Results show a 27.5 % decline in green space and a 78.5 % loss of blue space since 2013. >91 % of wards now experience high to very-high land surface temperature, and 26 wards (55.3 %) fall within very-high hazard zones concentrated along a northeast–southwest corridor. In contrast, a large share of wards including Ward 28, representing the city’s typical mid-risk profile remain in the moderate category, reflecting comparatively lower combined hazard-exposure pressures. Six wards, in total, fall under very-high total population risk, while Scheduled Tribe risk is very high in two wards and high in three; Scheduled Caste women experience high or very high risk in more than ten wards. Rather than implying a direct “high contribution” to SDG 11.7, the proposed model functions as a decision-support tool that can support monitoring and targeted action toward SDG 11.7 by identifying ward-level deficits in inclusive access to safer, healthier, and climate-resilient blue-green and public spaces, thereby enabling transferable, equity-oriented resilience planning in rapidly urbanizing secondary cities.
{"title":"Urban ecological risk and social vulnerability assessment for equitable climate resilience planning in Siliguri, India","authors":"Alok Das , Sayanti Poddar , Javed Mallick , Hoang Thi Hang , Swapan Talukdar","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107113","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107113","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban ecological risks are intensifying due to climate change, land-use transitions, and socio-institutional disparities. In South Asia, Himalayan foothill cities such as Siliguri face compounded vulnerability from blue-green infrastructure loss, rising land surface temperature, and pollutant accumulation, particularly in socially marginalized wards. This study develops a spatially integrated urban ecological risk model for Siliguri by combining biophysical hazards, social vulnerability, and adaptive capacity at the ward level. A multi-step approach was applied: Random Forest classification and mono-window algorithms derived land use and land surface temperature (2003–2023); hazards included land surface temperature, built-up density, aerosol optical depth, road proximity, and gaseous pollutants; exposure was quantified using caste- and gender-disaggregated indicators; and adaptive capacity was assessed using access to key services and blue–green infrastructure, integrated through a Gamma overlay. Results show a 27.5 % decline in green space and a 78.5 % loss of blue space since 2013. >91 % of wards now experience high to very-high land surface temperature, and 26 wards (55.3 %) fall within very-high hazard zones concentrated along a northeast–southwest corridor. In contrast, a large share of wards including Ward 28, representing the city’s typical mid-risk profile remain in the moderate category, reflecting comparatively lower combined hazard-exposure pressures. Six wards, in total, fall under very-high total population risk, while Scheduled Tribe risk is very high in two wards and high in three; Scheduled Caste women experience high or very high risk in more than ten wards. Rather than implying a direct “high contribution” to SDG 11.7, the proposed model functions as a decision-support tool that can support monitoring and targeted action toward SDG 11.7 by identifying ward-level deficits in inclusive access to safer, healthier, and climate-resilient blue-green and public spaces, thereby enabling transferable, equity-oriented resilience planning in rapidly urbanizing secondary cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 107113"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145927035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.107107
Maha Habib , Doruntina Zendeli , Marjolein van Esch , Wim J. Timmermans , Maarten van Ham
Residential environments are central to addressing urban heat stress for vulnerable populations and are prime target areas for implementing climate adaptation strategies. The reliance on urban heat island (UHI) intensity mapping alone has been argued to provide limited guidance for adaptation efforts, whereas linking heat patterns to the built environment characteristics through frameworks such as Local Climate Zones (LCZ) provides actionable insights for developing neighborhood cooling strategies. However, the widely used LCZ maps have a few limitations, such as misrepresenting variation within types because they cannot account for sub-classes beyond the standardized framework. This paper presents an unsupervised clustering approach to identify residential typo-morphologies across 99 Dutch cities, enhancing their relevance for urban heat vulnerability assessments. The analysis reveals that five morphological and canopy parameters (FSI, GSI, OSR, Havg, and FVC) selected from 17 parameters are sufficient to identify nine distinct residential typo-morphologies relatable to LCZs within 100 m × 100 m grid cells. The evaluations demonstrate that our approach detects underrepresented LCZ types and reveals new sub-classes absent from standard LCZ classifications. Key findings include detection of high-density areas (LCZ 42) reflecting recent urban densification with one of the highest UHImax next to LCZ 2 (4.2–4.9 K), and vegetation-differentiated variants within sparse and low-rise categories LCZ 9D and LCZ 6D, distinguished by distinctive UHImax (0.5–0.7 K) higher compared to their reference base types. Notably, tree coverage remains low across low-rise and compact typo-morphologies, revealing substantial opportunities for greening interventions. This data-driven refinement preserves LCZ's global comparability while considering local specificity, providing improved frameworks to inform targeted climate adaptation strategies in residential environments.
{"title":"Unsupervised clustering approach to residential typo-morphologies across multiple cities for urban heat vulnerability assessment","authors":"Maha Habib , Doruntina Zendeli , Marjolein van Esch , Wim J. Timmermans , Maarten van Ham","doi":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107107","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scs.2025.107107","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Residential environments are central to addressing urban heat stress for vulnerable populations and are prime target areas for implementing climate adaptation strategies. The reliance on urban heat island (UHI) intensity mapping alone has been argued to provide limited guidance for adaptation efforts, whereas linking heat patterns to the built environment characteristics through frameworks such as Local Climate Zones (LCZ) provides actionable insights for developing neighborhood cooling strategies. However, the widely used LCZ maps have a few limitations, such as misrepresenting variation within types because they cannot account for sub-classes beyond the standardized framework. This paper presents an unsupervised clustering approach to identify residential typo-morphologies across 99 Dutch cities, enhancing their relevance for urban heat vulnerability assessments. The analysis reveals that five morphological and canopy parameters (FSI, GSI, OSR, H<sub>avg</sub>, and FVC) selected from 17 parameters are sufficient to identify nine distinct residential typo-morphologies relatable to LCZs within 100 m × 100 m grid cells. The evaluations demonstrate that our approach detects underrepresented LCZ types and reveals new sub-classes absent from standard LCZ classifications. Key findings include detection of high-density areas (LCZ 4<sub>2</sub>) reflecting recent urban densification with one of the highest UHI<sub>max</sub> next to LCZ 2 (4.2–4.9 K), and vegetation-differentiated variants within sparse and low-rise categories LCZ 9<sub>D</sub> and LCZ 6<sub>D</sub>, distinguished by distinctive UHI<sub>max</sub> (0.5–0.7 K) higher compared to their reference base types. Notably, tree coverage remains low across low-rise and compact typo-morphologies, revealing substantial opportunities for greening interventions. This data-driven refinement preserves LCZ's global comparability while considering local specificity, providing improved frameworks to inform targeted climate adaptation strategies in residential environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48659,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Cities and Society","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 107107"},"PeriodicalIF":12.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145981022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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