Beyond Survival: Urban Heat Liveability Assessment in Durham, North Carolina

While recent literature on urban extreme heat impacts often focus on mortality, less attention has been given to its effects on daily activities and overall liveability. This research adapts the novel methodology developed by Vanos et al. (2023) for assessing heat-related liveability, applying it for the first time at an intra-urban scale using local observations in Durham, North Carolina as a case study. We employed the Python Human Heat Balance model to translate fine-scale heat patterns during the summer of 2024 into maximum safe activity levels for younger and older adults. In addition, these estimates were then compared with census tract-level age and socio-economic distribution data.

Our results demonstrate that average liveability improves with increasing distance from the city center, a trend consistent with the urban heat island effect. Elderly individuals primarily reside in the cooler outskirts of Durham, allowing for the highest safe levels of activity for their age group. Conversely, young adult populations are concentrated closer to the city center, where the levels of liveability are the lowest for their age group. Although older adults have lower heat exposures, they still possess lower maximum safe activity levels compared to younger individuals, emphasizing the vulnerability of the older populations even in relatively temperate urban areas. Lower-income neighborhoods exhibited lower potential maximum safe activity compared to the average.

These findings have important implications for policymakers and community organizations in Durham, highlighting the need to target additional resources and support to areas with lower levels of livability. Urban heat mitigation strategies, like increasing vegetated surfaces and shade, should be prioritized in these vulnerable neighborhoods to improve liveability. Such strategies are especially necessary as climate change and urban growth are likely to exacerbate urban heat alongside an aging population. By implementing these measures, Durham can be a place where residents not only survive but thrive during the summer months.