Economic valuation of temperature-related mortality attributed to urban heat islands in European cities

In this study, the authors provide a consistent analysis of UHI’s impact on mortality risk for 85 cities across Europe and consider the impact of both heat and cold temperatures over the entire annual cycle. Mortality risks are explored across urbanization gradients using high-resolution urban climate simulations, population density data, and city-level temperature-mortality relationships. They further monetize climate-related risks and compare the economic valuation of UHIs’ mortality impact with other urban living costs.

The study concluded that on average, UHI-induced heat-/cold-related mortality is associated with economic impacts of €192/€ − 314 per adult urban inhabitant per year in Europe, comparable to air pollution and transit costs. These findings urge strategies aimed at designing healthier cities to consider the seasonality of UHI impacts, and to account for social costs, their controlling factors, and intra-urban variability.