Cooling the City? A Scientometric Study on Urban Green and Blue Infrastructure and Climate Change-Induced Public Health Effects

Leo Capari, Harald Wilfing, Andreas Exner, Thomas Höflehner and Daniela Haluza
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Leo Capari: Institute of Technology Assessment, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Harald Wilfing: Human Ecology Work Group, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Andreas Exner: RCE Graz-Styria–Centre for Sustainable Social Transformation, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria
Thomas Höflehner: RCE Graz-Styria–Centre for Sustainable Social Transformation, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria
Daniela Haluza: Department of Environmental Health, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: Climate change causes global effects on multiple levels. The anthropogenic input of greenhouse gases increases the atmospheric mean temperature. It furthermore leads to a higher probability of extreme weather events (e.g., heat waves, floods) and thus strongly impacts the habitats of humans, animals, and plants. Against this background, research and innovation activities are increasingly focusing on potential health-related aspects and feasible adaptation and mitigation strategies. Progressing urbanization and demographic change paired with the climate change-induced heat island effect exposes humans living in urban habitats to increasing health risks. By employing scientometric methods, this scoping study provides a systematic bird’s eye view on the epistemic landscapes of climate change, its health-related effects, and possible technological and nature-based interventions and strategies in order to make urban areas climate proof. Based on a literature corpus consisting of 2614 research articles collected in SCOPUS, we applied network-based analysis and visualization techniques to map the different scientific communities, discourses and their interrelations. From a public health perspective, the results demonstrate the range of either direct or indirect health effects of climate change. Furthermore, the results indicate that a public health-related scientific discourse is converging with an urban planning and building science driven discourse oriented towards urban blue and green infrastructure. We conclude that this development might mirror the socio-political demand to tackle emerging climate change-induced challenges by transgressing disciplinary boundaries.

Keywords: climate change; urban heat island; health effects; urban blue green infrastructure; scientometric analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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