IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i7p778-d104668.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modeling the Effects of Urban Design on Emergency Medical Response Calls during Extreme Heat Events in Toronto, Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Drew A. Graham

    (School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada)

  • Jennifer K. Vanos

    (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA)

  • Natasha A. Kenny

    (Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada)

  • Robert D. Brown

    (Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, College of Architecture 3137, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3137, USA)

Abstract

Urban residents are at risk of health-related illness during extreme heat events but the dangers are not equal in all parts of a city. Previous studies have found a relationship between physical characteristics of neighborhoods and the number of emergency medical response (EMR) calls. We used a human energy budget model to test the effects of landscape modifications that are designed to cool the environment on the expected number of EMR calls in two neighborhoods in Toronto, Canada during extreme heat events. The cooling design strategies reduced the energy overload on people by approximately 20–30 W m −2 , resulting in an estimated 40–50% reduction in heat-related ambulance calls. These findings advance current understanding of the relationship between the urban landscape and human health and suggest straightforward design strategies to positively influence urban heat-health.

Suggested Citation

  • Drew A. Graham & Jennifer K. Vanos & Natasha A. Kenny & Robert D. Brown, 2017. "Modeling the Effects of Urban Design on Emergency Medical Response Calls during Extreme Heat Events in Toronto, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:7:p:778-:d:104668
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/7/778/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/7/778/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harlan, Sharon L. & Brazel, Anthony J. & Prashad, Lela & Stefanov, William L. & Larsen, Larissa, 2006. "Neighborhood microclimates and vulnerability to heat stress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 2847-2863, December.
    2. K. Oleson & A. Monaghan & O. Wilhelmi & M. Barlage & N. Brunsell & J. Feddema & L. Hu & D. Steinhoff, 2015. "Interactions between urbanization, heat stress, and climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 525-541, April.
    3. Kate L. Bassil & Donald C. Cole, 2010. "Effectiveness of Public Health Interventions in Reducing Morbidity and Mortality during Heat Episodes: a Structured Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-11, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jiemei Luo & Edwin H. W. Chan & Jinfeng Du & Linxia Feng & Peng Jiang & Ying Xu, 2022. "Developing a Health-Spatial Indicator System for a Healthy City in Small and Midsized Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alisa L. Hass & Kelsey N. Ellis & Lisa Reyes Mason & Jon M. Hathaway & David A. Howe, 2016. "Heat and Humidity in the City: Neighborhood Heat Index Variability in a Mid-Sized City in the Southeastern United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Meryl Jagarnath & Tirusha Thambiran & Michael Gebreslasie, 2020. "Heat stress risk and vulnerability under climate change in Durban metropolitan, South Africa—identifying urban planning priorities for adaptation," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 807-829, November.
    3. Yan Yan & Hui Liu & Ningcheng Wang & Shenjun Yao, 2021. "How Does Low-Density Urbanization Reduce the Financial Sustainability of Chinese Cities? A Debt Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Susan Williams & Peng Bi & Jonathan Newbury & Guy Robinson & Dino Pisaniello & Arthur Saniotis & Alana Hansen, 2013. "Extreme Heat and Health: Perspectives from Health Service Providers in Rural and Remote Communities in South Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Pei-Wen Chung & Stephen J. Livesley & John P. Rayner & Claire Farrell, 2021. "Rooting Volume Impacts Growth, Coverage and Thermal Tolerance of Green Façade Climbing Plants," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, November.
    6. Weihua Dong & Zhao Liu & Lijie Zhang & Qiuhong Tang & Hua Liao & Xian'en Li, 2014. "Assessing Heat Health Risk for Sustainability in Beijing’s Urban Heat Island," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-24, October.
    7. Hongyan Cai & Xinliang Xu, 2017. "Impacts of Built-Up Area Expansion in 2D and 3D on Regional Surface Temperature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-16, October.
    8. Sara Wilkinson & Renato Castiglia Feitosa, 2015. "Retrofitting Housing with Lightweight Green Roof Technology in Sydney, Australia, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, January.
    9. De Valck, Jeremy & Beames, Alistair & Liekens, Inge & Bettens, Maarten & Seuntjens, Piet & Broekx, Steven, 2019. "Valuing urban ecosystem services in sustainable brownfield redevelopment," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 139-149.
    10. Tao Chen & Anchang Sun & Ruiqing Niu, 2019. "Effect of Land Cover Fractions on Changes in Surface Urban Heat Islands Using Landsat Time-Series Images," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, March.
    11. Vaneckova, Pavla & Beggs, Paul J. & Jacobson, Carol R., 2010. "Spatial analysis of heat-related mortality among the elderly between 1993 and 2004 in Sydney, Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 293-304, January.
    12. Rakin Abrar & Showmitra Kumar Sarkar & Kashfia Tasnim Nishtha & Swapan Talukdar & Shahfahad & Atiqur Rahman & Abu Reza Md Towfiqul Islam & Amir Mosavi, 2022. "Assessing the Spatial Mapping of Heat Vulnerability under Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect in the Dhaka Metropolitan Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-24, April.
    13. Maria Papathoma-Koehle & Catrin Promper & Roxana Bojariu & Roxana Cica & András Sik & Kinga Perge & Peter László & Erika Balázs Czikora & Alexandru Dumitrescu & Cosmin Turcus & Marius-Victor Birsan & , 2016. "A common methodology for risk assessment and mapping for south-east Europe: an application for heat wave risk in Romania," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 82(1), pages 89-109, May.
    14. Qunshan Zhao & Elizabeth A. Wentz, 2016. "A MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) Imagery for Urban Heat Island Research," Data, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-9, June.
    15. Yuan-Bin Cai & Ke Li & Yan-Hong Chen & Lei Wu & Wen-Bin Pan, 2021. "The Changes of Heat Contribution Index in Urban Thermal Environment: A Case Study in Fuzhou," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-18, August.
    16. Weihua Dong & Zhao Liu & Hua Liao & Qiuhong Tang & Xian’en Li, 2015. "New climate and socio-economic scenarios for assessing global human health challenges due to heat risk," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 505-518, June.
    17. Mabon, Leslie & Shih, Wan-Yu, 2018. "What might ‘just green enough’ urban development mean in the context of climate change adaptation? The case of urban greenspace planning in Taipei Metropolis, Taiwan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 224-238.
    18. An Vu & Shannon Rutherford & Dung Phung, 2019. "Heat Health Prevention Measures and Adaptation in Older Populations—A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    19. Yizhou Wu & Yueer Wu & Yaxin Pan, 2024. "Sustainability Optimization Method of Built Environment with Integrated Physical Environment and Virtual Perception Simulation: A Case Study of Campus Open Space," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-26, October.
    20. Derick A. Akompab & Peng Bi & Susan Williams & Janet Grant & Iain A. Walker & Martha Augoustinos, 2013. "Heat Waves and Climate Change: Applying the Health Belief Model to Identify Predictors of Risk Perception and Adaptive Behaviours in Adelaide, Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-21, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:7:p:778-:d:104668. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.