Virtual State of the Field: Heat Vulnerability, Social Resiliency, and Urban Planning

While urban planners have increasingly incorporated a climate adaptation lens into planning and policy, methods of adaptation tend to be focused on responding to coastal flooding and extreme rain events. Both locally and nationwide, heat waves are the most fatal extreme weather events. Each summer approximately 130 New Yorkers die from heat related causes. By the 2050s, New York will see the number of days above 90F triple. Heat mortality is closely related to issues of poverty, substandard housing quality, systemic inequality, and health. This talk and discussion will explore the concept of heat vulnerability, the role that social resiliency and cohesion can play in improving health outcomes during extreme heat waves, and how urban planners can incorporate heat mitigation into their work.

Daphne Lundi is an urban planner whose work focuses on climate resilience and neighborhood planning at the New York City Department of City Planning. She has a history of volunteer work that includes serving as a planning commissioner, on a historic foundation board, and in many leadership roles within APA.