Urban Heat Exposure Assessment for Heat Adaptation Strategies towards Heat Resilient City: A Case Study in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province, Thailand

Abstract

Climate change is the long-term shift in the Earth's average temperatures as recent global warming appears to be faster than expected due to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases emissions. Thus, the city's heat adaptation strategies must be developed to help people adapt to global temperature rising. This study aimed to assess the urban heat exposure from city's physical conditions such as, temperature, humidity, green areas and heat-health impacts, collecting from the field measurement and the geographical information system (GIS) technique. Bang Lamung district, Chonburi province was selected as a major hot spot in Thailand. Urban heat exposure mapping was presented by data normalization techniques to show vulnerable areas in terms of colour coding schemes. The results revealed a strong connection between climate variables and land use change, where green infrastructures such as vegetations and undeveloped lands required carefully concerns for natural cooling effects in urban designs and plannings. Developing in heat adaptation strategies can help identify how different cities and their residents adapt to increasing extreme heat, where this capability is crucial for city planning agencies to create robust climate-informed policy making in the future.