“Urban Heat: Mapping, mitigation, and multi-objective planning” with Dr. Ben Zaitchik, Johns Hopkins
NYU CUSP's Research Seminar Series features leading voices in the growing field of urban informatics. Check out upcoming seminars: https://bit.ly/3vYAYYt
Extreme heat is a significant and growing health burden. This burden is particularly acute in poor and minority urban communities, where the urban heat island tends to be enhanced and vulnerability to heat-related illness is high. These environmental justice implications of urban heat are widely recognized, and cities have begun to prioritize efforts to quantify heat vulnerability and implement equity-oriented reduction strategies. In this seminar Dr. Zaitchik will report on a transdisciplinary collaboration, focused on Baltimore, that includes high resolution heat mapping, evaluation of heat reduction and adaptation options, and the development of a multi-criteria decision support tool designed to engage stakeholders in iterative analysis of heat mitigation priorities and investment strategies. Broader application of this approach to multi-hazard climate resilience strategies will also be discussed.