Beat the heat: Hotspots for nature-based solutions in Vienna and Budapest

As populations in cities continue to grow, residents face increasing climate change related impacts. These impacts vary across neighbourhoods and districts in the city, often depending on the built environment and access to green spaces. Historic cities such as Vienna and Budapest illustrate the challenges which cultural heritage and development of the late 19th century pose for heat reduction in city centres. Rising frequency of heat waves in central Europe, the resultant urban heat island effect and tropical nights negatively affect health and well-being. Nature-based solutions are possible measures to tackle these issues. Based on the cities of Vienna and Budapest, this study combines urban heat modelling with results from a discrete choice experiment to identify where residents in each city are more affected by heat, the most vulnerable communities and how residents in each city perceive their situation. The results indicate that heat negatively affects the health and well-being of all, but respondents from Budapest are more pronounced in their experiences and perceptions, especially those living in urban districts and city centres. Residents underestimate experienced heat compared to the no of heat days recorded through meteorological stations. With these results, it becomes clear that local solutions are needed which reflect residents’ needs to benefit people and city, along with reducing urban heat island effects. ​For urban planners, the results translate into setting clear planning priorities and goals specific to their residents’ needs. Nature-based solutions targeting heat reduction should be placed in neighbourhood types which demonstrate high heat perception based on social analysis and heat modelling.