No. 31 (2026): Risks and built environment: From knowledge to project
Dossier

Risks and urban overheating: From Evidence to Intervention

PDF
  • Konstantina Vasilakopoulou,
  • Qinghua Lv,
  • Matthaios Santamouris
Konstantina Vasilakopoulou
School of Property, Construction and Project Management, Post-Carbon Research Centre, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne, Australia
Qinghua Lv
School of Science, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China
Matthaios Santamouris
School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-20468

Published 2026-07-29

Keywords

  • Urban overheating,
  • mitigation, adaptation, energy,
  • health,
  • economic growth

How to Cite

Vasilakopoulou, K., Lv, Q., & Santamouris, M. (2026). Risks and urban overheating: From Evidence to Intervention. TECHNE - Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment, (31), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-20468

Copyright (c) 2026 Konstantina Vasilakopoulou, Qinghua Lv, Matthaios Santamouris

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Abstract

Urban overheating has a serious impact on the energy, health, environmental, and financial sectors. While the direct risks are clearly perceived, the broader multidimensional impacts are rarely understood or adequately assessed by decision-makers, markets, and other stakeholders. This is mainly due to the significant lack of primary statistical and social data, as well as the absence of specialised studies. This paper aims to identify the main obstacles to properly assessing the broader risks of urban overheating. It develops a comprehensive process comprising nine distinct phases to effectively evaluate, plan, and address the challenges of regional climate change. It also discusses strategies and policies to be adopted to promote sustainable development and economic growth through the implementation of large-scale heat mitigation and adaptation projects.

PDF

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Carleton, T., Jina, A., Delgado, M., Greenstone, M., Houser, T., Hsiang, S., Hultgren, A., et al. (2022), “Valuing the Global Mortality Consequences of Climate Change Accounting for Adaptation Costs and Benefits”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 137 No. 4, pp. 2037–2105, Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac020.
  2. Chakraborty, R. (2024), “Why India is failing to track heatstroke fatalities properly”, BMJ, p. q1437. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1437.
  3. De Cian, E., Falchetta, G., Pavanello, F., Romitti, Y. and Sue Wing, I. (2025), “The impact of air conditioning on residential electricity consumption across world countries”, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Academic Press Inc., Vol. 131. Available at: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103122.
  4. Cool Coalition UNEP. (2025), Global Cooling Watch 2025: The Free Degrees, United Nations Environment Programme. Available at: https://doi.org/ 10.59117/20.500.11822/48926.
  5. Friesenecker, M., Schneider, A., Bügelmayer-Blaschek, M., Getzner, M., Hahn, C., Schneider, M., Seebauer, S., et al. (2025), “Socially equitable climate risk management of urban heat”, Npj Urban Sustainability, Springer Nature, Vol. 5, n. 1. Available at: https://doi.org/ 10.1038/s42949-025-00202-2.
  6. Haddad, S., Barker, A., Yang, J., Kumar, D.I.M., Garshasbi, S., Paolini, R. and Santamouris, M. (2020a), “On the potential of building adaptation measures to counterbalance the impact of climatic change in the tropics”, Energy and Buildings, Elsevier Ltd, Vol. 229. Available at: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110494.
  7. Haddad, S., Paolini, R., Synnefa, A., De Torres, L., Prasad, D. and Santamouris, M. (2022), “Integrated assessment of the extreme climatic conditions, thermal performance, vulnerability, and well-being in low-income housing in the subtropical climate of Australia”, Energy and Buildings, Elsevier Ltd, Vol. 272. Available at: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112349.
  8. Haddad, S., Paolini, R., Ulpiani, G., Synnefa, A., Hatvani-Kovacs, G., Garshasbi, S., Fox, J., et al. (2020b), “Holistic approach to assess co-benefits of local climate mitigation in a hot humid region of Australia”, Scientific Reports, Nature Research, Vol. 10, n. 1. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71148-x.
  9. Haddad, S., Zhang, W., Paolini, R., Gao, K., Altheeb, M., Al Mogirah, A., Bin Moammar, A., et al. (2024), “Quantifying the energy impact of heat mitigation technologies at the urban scale”, Nature Cities, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 62-72. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-023-00005-5.
  10. Kalkstein, L.S., Sailor, D., Shickman, K., Sheridan, S. and Vanos, J. (2013), Assessing the Health Impacts of Urban Heat Island Reduction Strategies in the District of Columbia.
  11. Pavanello, F., De Cian, E., Davide, M., Mistry, M., Cruz, T., Bezerra, P., Jagu, D., et al. (2021), “Air-conditioning and the adaptation cooling deficit in emerging economies”, Nature Communications, Nature Research, Vol. 12, n. 1. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26592-2.
  12. Poumadère, M., Mays, C., Le Mer, S. and Blong, R. (2005), “The 2003 heat wave in France: Dangerous climate change here and now”, Risk Analysis, December. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00694.x.
  13. Ritchie, H. (2024), How Many People Die from Extreme Temperatures, and How This Could Change in the Future: Part Two.
  14. Santamouris, M. (2015), “Analyzing the heat island magnitude and characteristics in one hundred Asian and Australian cities and regions”, Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, Vol. 512-513, pp. 582-598. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.01.060.
  15. Santamouris, M. (2020), “Recent progress on urban overheating and heat island research. Integrated assessment of the energy, environmental, vulnerability and health impact. Synergies with the global climate change”, Energy and Buildings, Elsevier Ltd, 15 January. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109482.
  16. Santamouris, M. and Fiorito, F. (2021), “On the impact of modified urban albedo on ambient temperature and heat related mortality”, Solar Energy, Elsevier Ltd, Vol. 216, pp. 493-507. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.01.031.
  17. Santamouris, M. and Kolokotsa, D. (2015), “On the impact of urban overheating and extreme climatic conditions on housing, energy, comfort and environmental quality of vulnerable population in Europe”, Energy and Buildings, Elsevier Ltd, Vol. 98, pp. 125-133. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.08.050.
  18. Santamouris, M. and Osmond, P. (2020), “Increasing green infrastructure in cities: Impact on ambient temperature, air quality and heat-related mortality and morbidity”, Buildings, MDPI AG, Vol. 10, n. 12, pp. 1-34. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10120233.
  19. Santamouris, M., Paolini, R., Haddad, S., Synnefa, A., Garshasbi, S., Hatvani-Kovacs, G., Gobakis, K., et al. (2020), “Heat mitigation technologies can improve sustainability in cities. An holistic experimental and numerical impact assessment of urban overheating and related heat mitigation strategies on energy consumption, indoor comfort, vulnerability and heat-related mortality and morbidity in cities”, Energy & Buildings, Vol. 217, p. 110002. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110.
  20. Shilpi, F., Kahn, M.E. and Berg, C. (n.d.). Adapting to a Changing Climate.
  21. Stanford University, K.C. on G.D.N. (2025), “As climate change deepens poverty in low-income countries: A call for better data”. Available at: https://kingcenter.stanford.edu/news/climate-change-deepens-poverty-low-income-countries-call-better-data (accessed 4 January 2026).
  22. Stone, B., Vargo, J., Liu, P., Habeeb, D., DeLucia, A., Trail, M., Hu, Y., et al. (2014), “Avoided heat-related mortality through climate adaptation strategies in three US cities”, PLoS ONE, Public Library of Science, Vol. 9, n. 6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100852.
  23. Tuholske, C., Caylor, K., Funk, C. and Evans, T. (2021), “Global urban population exposure to extreme heat”, PNAS, Vol. 118, n. 41.
  24. Vasilakopoulou, K., Santamouris, M. (2025), Cumulative exposure to urban heat can affect the learning capacity of students and penalize the vulnerable and low-income young population: A systematic review. PLOS Clim 4(7): e0000618.
  25. World Bank. (n.d.). “Poverty and Inequality”. Available at: https://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/themes/poverty-and-inequality.html (accessed 2 January 2026).