CityLab Daily: How Urban Sprawl Made Summers Even Hotter in Phoenix
Also today: New York’s hottest neighborhood, and Singaporeans turn empty spaces in public housing into libraries.
A resident drinks water while standing next to misters during a heat wave in Phoenix, Arizona, US, on Thursday, July 20, 2023.
Photographer: Caitlin O'Hara/BloombergA prolonged heat dome broiling the US South and Southwest has shattered temperature records in Phoenix and trapped the city in an unprecedented streak of dangerously hot days. But it’s not just climate change that’s driving the exceptional warmth. Decades of unchecked urban sprawl has exacerbated the heat island effect, while explosive population growth and an affordable housing crunch have made it harder than ever to keep people safe.
The city’s heat office is scrambling to move people to relief centers, and use the city’s infrastructure to ease summertime temperatures. But officials are playing catch-up on a problem baked into the city’s footprint, writes Linda Poon. Today on CityLab: Phoenix’s Rapid Growth Magnified Its Vulnerability to Heat