Looking for education on this topic?
Check Out Our Passport Courses
Passport is your ticket to the training, experiences, and connections that will take you where you want to go in your planning career. Subscribe for unlimited access for one year to APA's extensive learning library of solution-oriented content facilitated by planners, for planners.
-
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
2019This web page contains information, resources, and professional development opportunities on green roofs and green walls. -
National Green Infrastructure Certification Program
2019This web page outlines a certification program for green infrastructure practitioners. -
Solar Power Purchase Agreements: A Toolkit for Local Governments
March 2015This guide is designed to help local governments solicit and execute solar power purchase agreements. -
Green River, WY, Code of Ordinances
Updated March 2021These regulations belong to the Home Occupations and Solar Energy collections -
Restoring Mill Creek: Landscape Literacy, Environmental Justice and City Planning and Design
Landscape Research, 30(3): 395-413, 2005by: Anne Whiston SpirnThis article looks at the Mill Creek neighborhood in Philadelphia to examine the racial history of disinvestment and neglect and current efforts to address these injustices through planning and design. -
Building Healthy Corridors: Transforming Urban and Suburban Arterials Into Thriving Places
October 2016by: Sara Hammerschmidt, Aysha Cohen, Grant HayesThis report considers how corridor redevelopment can improve public health. -
SB 1000 Implementation Toolkit
October 2017by: Amy Vanderwarker, Carlton Eley, David Early, FAICPThis guide supports California communities in implementing the Planning for Healthy Communities Act, which requires that cities and counties include an environmental justice (EJ) element in comprehensive plans. -
Bounce Forward: Urban Resilience in the Era of Climate Change
May 2015This report sought to understand the concept of urban resilience based on existing literature and consultations with urban change agents such as community organizations, planners, and researchers. -
Urban Heat Island Mitigation Technologies
2021by: Rohinton EmmanuelThis book highlights strategies and policy development related to urban heat mitigation. -
Heat Island Community Actions Database
January 2020This clearinghouse provides access to several urban heat mitigation strategies. -
Global Heat Health Information Network
2022This clearinghouse provides access to several resources to help planners and other decision-makers address the impacts of urban heat. -
Developing an Integrated Heat Health Information System for Long-Term Resilience to Climate and Weather Extremes in the El Paso - Juárez - Las Cruces Region
January 2017by: Gregg Garfin, Sarah LeRoy, Hunter JonesThis report provides a summary of a workshop that brought together individuals from different sectors to discuss the intersection between climate and weather and public health issues related to extreme heat. -
Cool Policies for Cool Cities: Best Practices for Mitigating Urban Heat Islands in North American Cities
Report U1405, June 2014by: Virginia Hewitt, Eric Mackres, Kurt ShickmanThis report discusses urban heat islands and presents several strategies that North American cities are using to mitigate the impacts of this issue. -
Dallas Urban Heat Island Management Study
August 2017by: Brian Stone, Armistead Russell, Marcus TrailThis report presents strategies to help manage the effects of urban heat in Dallas, TX. -
Community-Informed Heat Relief: Policy Options for Addressing Urban Extreme Heat in High-Risk Communities
July 2021by: Katherine McCormick, Tiffany Ganthier, Kate ZylaThis report provides information to help Washington, DC, and other local government agencies develop and implement plans to protect their communities from the risks of increased temperatures. -
Heat Response Plans: Summary of Evidence and Strategies for Collaboration and Implementation
January 2020by: Jessica Abbinett, Paul Schramm, Stasia WiderynskiThis report discusses extreme heat and explores the effectiveness of heat response plans to address the risks associated with this hazard. -
Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 2016-106, February 2016by: Brenda Jacklitsch, Kristin Musolin, Aitor CocaThis report contains strategies to help prevent occupational exposure to heat stress. -
Killer Heat in the United States: Climate Choices and the Future of Dangerously Hot Days
July 2019by: Kristina Dahl, Erika Spanger-Siegfried, Rachel LickerThis report discusses the widespread increase of extreme heat in the United States and the different implications of this hazard to diverse groups or communities, including urban and rural residents, low-income residents, and people exposed to other risks. -
Municipal Heat Response Planning in British Columbia, Canada
August 2017by: Amy Lubik, Geoff McKee, Tina ChenThis report highlights solutions that health authorities and municipalities in British Columbia are implementing to address the risks associated with extreme heat. -
Living with Heat: A Boston Design Charrette
October 2019by: Michael HobanThis report presents information to help land-use professionals and other decision-makers implement solutions that help mitigate the effects of urban heat islands on the built environment. -
Louisville Urban Heat Management Study
April 2016This report presents several neighborhood-based recommendations to reduce the effects of urban heat in the Louisville Metropolitan region. -
Rx for Hot Cities: Climate Resilience through Urban Greening and Cooling in Los Angeles
2020by: Edith de Guzman, David Sailor, Laurence KalksteinThis report discusses heat mitigation strategies at the neighborhood, municipal, and regional levels. -
Planning Urban Heat Island Mitigation in Boston
2015by: ERin Coutts, Kate Ito, Cecilia NardiThis report addresses urban heat islands (UHI) effects and the impacts of this hazard on public health. -
Primer for Cool Cities: Reducing Excessive Urban Heat
Knowledge Series 031/20, October 2020This report presents several urban cooling strategies to help mitigate the effects of extreme heat on cities. -
The Benefits of Green Infrastructure for Heat Mitigation and Emissions Reductions in Cities
June 2016This report belongs to the Green Stormwater Infrastructure and Urban Heat Resilience collections. -
Solar-Reflective “Cool” Walls: Benefits, Technologies, and Implementation
CEC-500-2019-040, April 2019by: Ronnen Levinson, George Ban-Weiss, Paul BerdahlThis report explores the potential of solar-reflective surfaces in reducing energy costs, promoting urban cooling, and improving air quality. -
Scorched: Extreme Heat and Real Estate
2019by: Katharine Burgess, Elizabeth FosterThis report explores how extreme heat is growing as a planning consideration and how different sectors are using new technologies and policies to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat. -
The Heat is On
2020This report highlights how parks can help reduce the effects of increased temperatures in urban areas. -
Centering Equity to Address Extreme Heat: Preparing Communities for Hotter Days
February 2022by: Rebecca Marx, Jorge Morales-BurnettThis briefing paper discusses the importance of using an equity lens for addressing extreme heat issues. -
Neighborhood Level Cooling: Experiences from C40’s Cool Cities Network
April 2021by: Regina VetterThis briefing paper shares information to help local governments, planners, and other decision-makers understand and monitor urban heat island effects and involve the community in implementing cooling strategies. -
Communicating Heat Risk: Experiences from C40’s Cool Cities Network
July 2020by: Regina Vetter, Christopher HornThe briefing paper provides information to help communities better communicate the risks associated with extreme heat. -
Cooling Schools: Experiences from C40’s Cool Cities Network
September 2020by: Regina VetterThis briefing paper shares recommendations based on cities implementing strategies to help moderate temperatures in their schools. -
Cool Surfaces: Experiences from C40’s Cool Cities Network
December 2021by: Regina VetterThis briefing paper highlights how cities are using various solutions to address the effects of urban heat. -
Resilience Strategies for Extreme Heat
November 2017by: Kristiane HuberThis briefing paper several contains strategies to help communities address the effects of extreme heat. -
Resilience Hubs: Shifting Power to Communities and Increasing Community Capacity
March 2018by: Kristin BajaThis briefing paper provides information to help communities establish and support community resilience hubs. -
Assessing Adaptation Strategies for Extreme Heat: A Public Health Evaluation of Cooling Centers in Maricopa County, Arizona
Weather, Climate, and Society, 9(1): 71–80, 2017by: Vjollca Berisha, David Hondula, Matthew RoachThis article assesses cooling centers through a public health perspective and offers recommendations to help decision-makers implement and improve these facilities in their communities. -
Urban Heat and Equity: Experiences from C40’s Cool Cities Network
September 2021by: Regina Vetter, Yisum Heneghan, Krisztina CampbellThis briefing paper explores how communities are advancing solutions and implanting changes to address the inequitable distribution of the risks associated with urban heat. -
A Heat Vulnerability Index and Adaptation Solutions for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Environmental Science and Technology, 49(19): 11303–11311, 2015by: Kathryn Bradford, Leslie Abrahams, Miriam HegglinThis article discusses how policy and economic investments can help address the effects of extreme heat events. -
Smart Surfaces, Smart Cities: Reducing Heat and Promoting Equity in Urban Areas
September 2021by: Hillary AidunThis briefing paper discusses the legal barriers that local governments encounter when establishing policies for expanding smart surfaces to reduce urban heat. -
Building Community Heat Action Plans Story by Story: A Three Neighborhood Case Study
Cities, 107: 1-12, 2020by: Melissa Guardaro, Maggie Messerschmidt, David HondulaThis article presents a methodology for a community-driven heat adaptation planning process. -
Changing Heat-Related Mortality in the United States
Environmental Health Perspectives, 111(14): 1712-1718, 2003by: Robert Davis, Paul Knappenberger, Patrick MichaelsThis article examines heat-related mortality rates in the United States over time. -
Cities, Climate Change, and Urban Heat Island Mitigation: Localizing Global Environmental Science
Urban Studies, 46(2): 413-427, 2009by: Jason CorburnThis article highlights the importance of more collaboration between policymakers and scientists when addressing climate change and urban heat island issues. -
Dimensions of Thermal Inequity: Neighborhood Social Demographics and Urban Heat in the Southwestern U.S.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3): 1-15, 2021by: John Dialesandro, Noli Brazil, Stephen WheelerThis article examines the disparities in heat exposure across different socioeconomic and racial groups. -
Creating the Park Cool Island in an Inner-City Neighborhood: Heat Mitigation Strategy for Phoenix, AZ
Urban Ecosystems, 16(3): 617-635, 2012by: Juan Declet-Barreto, Anthony Brazel, Chris MartinThis article explores the effectiveness of urban heat mitigation strategies for Phoenix, AZ. -
Disproportionate Exposure to Urban Heat Island Intensity Across Major US Cities
Nature Communications, 12(2721): 1-11, 2021by: Algel Hsu, Glen Sheriff, Tirthankar ChakrabortyThis article explores the inequitable distribution of the risks associated with extreme heat events. -
Evaluation of Networks of Plans and Vulnerability to Hazards and Climate Change: A Resilience Scorecard
Journal of the American Planning Association, 81(4): 287-302, 2015by: Philip Berke, Galen Newman, Jaekyung Lee, Tabitha Combs, Carl Kolosna, AICP, David SalvesenThis article belongs to the Hazard Mitigation and Urban Heat Resilience collections. -
Four Approaches to Reducing the Urban Heat Island Effect
Urban Land, July 2020by: Elizabeth FosterThis article discusses some of the factors contributing to urban heat island effects and presents strategies to help address this issue. -
Environmental Justice Implications of Siting Criteria in Urban Green Infrastructure Planning
Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 23(5): 665-682, 2021by: Fushcia-Ann Hoover, Sara Meerow, Zbigniew Grabowski, Taylor & FrancisThis article uses a justice lens to examine the siting of green infrastructure projects. -
Local Climate Zones for Urban Temperature Studies
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 93(12): 1879-1900, 2012by: Iain Stewart, Timothy OkeThis article presents a climate-based classification of urban and rural areas to support efforts of measuring urban heat island effects. -
Maladaptation
Global Environmental Change, 20(2): 211-213, 2010by: Jon Barnett, Saffron O’NeillThis article discusses how climate change adaptation strategies may fail in delivering the desired outcomes and even increase communities’ vulnerability.