Seeking refuge? : The potential of urban climate shelters to address intersecting vulnerabilities
Amorim Maia, Ana Terra (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Anguelovski, Isabelle (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Connolly, James J. T. (University of British Columbia)
Chu, Eric (University of California. Department of Human Ecology)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	Climate shelters are critical urban infrastructures to support adaptation to extreme weather. They offer spaces - e. g. , parks, libraries, and civic centers - where residents can take refuge during episodes of extreme temperatures. With over 200 public spaces designated as "Climate Shelters", Barcelona (Spain) serves as an emblematic example of whether these emerging spaces are meeting the needs, expectations, and everyday experiences of the most vulnerable residents. By applying an intersectional climate justice perspective and mixed-method approaches rooted in a survey of a particularly climate-exposed working-class neighborhood (La Prosperitat), we found that the intersecting vulnerabilities of marginalized populations remain poorly addressed, largely due to differences in access to coping mechanisms that overlap with intersecting social positions, exacerbating vulnerability to climate risks. We also found that housing inadequacy and energy poverty experienced by low- income residents and those originally from Global South countries made them the most affected and least able to cope with extreme temperatures. Women were also more affected by climate impacts and more concerned about current and future risks. We argue that unequal lived experiences of thermal (dis)comforts inform heat and cold inequalities, which, in turn, are attributed to intersecting social positions and structural vulnerabilities. These uneven lived experiences shape - and are reshaped by - limited adaptive capacity, culturally inappropriate approaches, and insufficiently inclusive public spaces, thus complicating an equity-driven provision of refuge infrastructures. Results call for developing refuge infrastructures that address the intersecting social and climate needs of residents who need them the most.
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Climate Shelters ; Climate Justice ; Intersectionality ; Intersecting Vulnerabilities ; Thermal Comfort
Published in:	Landscape and urban planning, Vol. 238 (October 2023) , art. 104836, ISSN 0169-2046

DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2023.104836

12 p, 14.3 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) > The Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles