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.