Planning for heat resilience - A comparative study between Greater Gothenburg´s and Skåne´s work on heat
Abstract
Due to climate change, it is expected that heat waves will be intensified and occur more
frequently in Sweden; hence, heat-related risks are anticipated to increase, i.e., morbidity and
mortality. Through heat mitigation strategies, risks associated with heat can be prevented. Since
Swedish municipalities have a monopoly on urban planning, the municipalities play a crucial
role in climate adaptation. Based on a questionnaire and interviews, the overall aim of this
thesis is to investigate how 24 Swedish municipalities within the two geographical regions of
Greater Gothenburg and Skåne work on heat using heat mitigation strategies. It is also
investigated how work on heat is prioritised against work on other climate risks Further, it is
investigated if there are differences between the municipalities' heat work and prioritisation
based on coastal-inland municipalities and urban population size. Lastly, it is examined which
factors affect the work and how.
46% (11/24) of the municipalities had conducted heat analysis of the risks and identified
measures. 29% (7/24) of the municipalities had implemented measures. Municipalities in
Skåne worked with heat to a greater extent than municipalities in Greater Gothenburg. This
could be explained by the fact that planners' in Skåne ranked heat higher than planners' in
Greater Gothenburg, based on their own knowledge and expertise, and that there were
examples given regarding initiatives on heat work from municipal personnel. Coastal
municipalities worked on heat to a greater extent than inland municipalities, which could be
explained by the fact that coastal areas face both coastal and non-coastal climate risks, thus the
risks are higher and could impact the levels of work. No differences could be identified based
on urban population size. One reason why few municipalities had started to work with heat can
be explained by the fact that heat received the lowest rank compared to other climate risks in
the municipalities' climate adaptation work, which could be further explained by the fact that
the perception of heat differed from the perception of other climate risks. It can also be
explained by identified factors affecting the municipalities' heat work. The most critical factors
influencing municipalities' heat mitigation work was knowledge, followed by legislation, local
government, support from authorities, and financial resources. The planners expressed the need
for tools, development of standards, guidelines, guidance from authorities, political decisions,
and resources to allow the development of work on heat.
Degree
Student essay
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2023-08-17Author
Johansson, Rebecca
Keywords
climate adaptation
heat mitigation
heat stress
urban planning
Series/Report no.
B1255
Language
eng