Centre for Urban Research heat library

Centre for Urban Research experts collaborate with industry, communities and other researchers around the world to produce leading research on heat, justice and cooler, fairer futures. Read more of their work using the links below.

Heat adaptation & resilience – communities, people, places

Vahanvati, M. (2026). What Lessons from Past Long-term Recovery after Earthquakes and Floods Help Plan for Extreme Heat in India? In Heat-Resilient Infrastructure: Lessons from Emerging Global Experience. https://aidmi.org/heat-resilient-infrastructure-lessons-from-emerging-global-experience/
Robertson, S., Siebel, S., & Willand, N. (2025). Toward heat resilient families in northern Melbourne/Naarm: Summary Report. Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.25439/rmt.30127183
Robertson, S., Walker, G. and Horne, R. 2024, 'Tracing the ruptures and rhythms of summer heat, energy vulnerability and home', Geoforum. 155. pp. 104095-104095. Article 104095. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718524001568
Strengers, Y., & Maller, C. (2017). Adapting to ‘extreme’ weather: mobile practice memories of keeping warm and cool as a climate change adaptation strategy. Environment and Planning A, 49(6), 1432–1450. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X17694029
Maller, C., & Strengers, Y. (2011). Housing, heat stress and health in a changing climate: promoting the adaptive capacity of vulnerable households, a suggested way forward. Health Promotion International, 26(4), 492–498. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dar003

Heat and urban planning

Croeser, T., Rahman, M. and Ghosh, A. 2026, 'Urban forestry for cooler cities faces three critical hurdles', Nature Communications. 17(1), 2408. Article 2408. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-70723-6
Robertson, S. (2025). Hot cities: Attending with care to life with increased heat. In Centre for Urban Research: Thought Leadership Series (pp. 12–13). Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University. https://doi.org/10.25439/rmt.30038464
Turner, R., Higgs, C., Sun, C., Resendiz, E., Peng, K., Cheng, X., Hunter, R., Boeing, G., Pugacheva, D., Chen, R., Adlakha, D., Kedar, V., Rosa, G. L., Oyeyemi, A., Schifanella, R., del Pozo, P. S., Peraza-Mues, G., Valson, J., Cerin, E., . . . Lowe, M. (2025). Development and validation of the Global Urban Heat Vulnerability Index (GUHVI). Urban Climate, 64, 102716. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102716
Rakoto, P. Y., Deilami, K., Hurley, J., Amati, M., & Sun, Q. C. (2021). Revisiting the cooling effects of urban greening: Planning implications of vegetation types and spatial configuration. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 64, 127266. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866721002934
Sun, Q. C., Macleod, T., Both, A., Hurley, J., Butt, A., & Amati, M. (2021). A human-centred assessment framework to prioritise heat mitigation efforts for active travel at city scale. Science of the Total Environment, 763, 143033. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720365633
Gupta, R., Vahanvati, M., Häggström, J., & Halcomb, J. S. (2020). A Practical Guide to Climate-Resilient Buildings & Communities. UNEP. https://www.unep.org/resources/practical-guide-climate-resilient-buildings
Duncan, J. M. A., Boruff, B., Saunders, A., Sun, Q., Hurley, J., & Amati, M. (2019). Turning down the heat: An enhanced understanding of the relationship between urban vegetation and surface temperature at the city scale. Science of the Total Environment, 656, 118-128. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718345790

Heat governance

Steele, W., Handmer, J. and McShane, I. 2023, Hot cities: A transdisciplinary agenda. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, United Kingdom. 10.4337/9781786434593.
Bosomworth, K., Moloney, S., & Gooder, H. (2020). The Hotspots Initiative: Place-based, cross-sector collaborations responding to the health impacts of heatwaves: Evaluation Report. Centre for Urban Research RMIT University. https://cur.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hotspots-evaluation-report_rmit-climatechangeexchange_2020.pdf
Oppermann, E., Strengers, Y., Maller, C., Rickards, L., & Brearley, M. (2018). Beyond threshold approaches to extreme heat: Repositioning adaptation as everyday practice. Weather, Climate, and Society, 10(4), 885–898. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-17-0084.1

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