Urban vulnerability to extreme heat: An assessment of Slovak cities

Although cities are now home to more than half of the world’s population, these concentrations of people, assets, and economic activities are subject to increasing risks as the consequences of climate change begin to take effect. As a result, the concept of urban vulnerability has gained renewed prominence in academic discourse and policy discussion, as it is a crucial means of understanding and addressing the impacts of climate change on cities. Within this context, the paper focuses on urban vulnerability and examines how it can be measured and evaluated in a comprehensive and systematic manner. The research focuses on a climate-related hazard which is particularly salient in urban environments – heatwaves. We present a composite index that incorporates climate, land-cover, socio-economic and governance indicators to provide a comprehensive assessment of the vulnerability of various Slovak cities to extreme heat conditions. The study applies robust quantitative methods and integrates three different methodological approaches to develop a final database outlining 15 partial indicators for 141 Slovak cities. The contribution of the paper lies in the methodological framework that proposes assessing urban vulnerability to heatwaves, but the research also has a practical application; the results identify the Slovak cities which are most vulnerable to extreme heat conditions, providing evidence-based data which can be used by decision-makers to formulate informed and targeted risk-assessment policies and climate adaptation measures.