Assessing Urban Risk to Extreme Heat in China

Xiaojun Huang, Yanyu Li, Yuhui Guo, Dianyuan Zheng and Mingyue Qi
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Xiaojun Huang: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Yanyu Li: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Yuhui Guo: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Dianyuan Zheng: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China
Mingyue Qi: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: Many cities are experiencing persistent risk in China due to frequent extreme weather events. Some extreme weather events, such as extreme heat hazard, have seriously threatened human health and socio-economic development in cities. There is an urgent need to measure the degree of extreme heat risk and identify cites with the highest levels of extreme heat risk. In this study, we presented a risk assessment framework of extreme heat and considered risk as a combination of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Based on these three dimensions, we selected relevant variables from historical meteorological data (1960–2016) and socioeconomic statistics in 2016, establishing an indicator system of extreme heat risk evaluation. Finally, we developed an extreme heat risk index to quantify the levels of extreme heat risk of 296 prefecture-level cities in China and revealed the spatial pattern of extreme heat risk in China in 2016 and their dominant factors. The results show that (1) cities with high levels of extreme heat hazard are mainly located in the south of China, especially in the southeast of China; (2) the spatial distribution of the extreme heat risk index shows obvious agglomeration characteristics; (3) the spatial distribution of the extreme heat risk is still mostly controlled by natural geographical conditions such as climate and topography; (4) among the four types of hazard-dominated, exposure-dominated, vulnerability-dominated, and low risk cities, the number of vulnerability-dominated cities is the largest. The results of this study can provide support for the risk management of extreme heat disasters and the formation of targeted countermeasures in China.

Keywords: extreme heat; risk assessment; hazard; exposure; vulnerability; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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