Heat vulnerability and resilience-oriented solutions for diverse urban residential communities in Guangzhou, China

Global warming, which is increasing the frequency of extreme heat events, poses a significant threat to human health and the economy. To mitigate these effects, researchers have used heat vulnerability indices to identify high-risk areas and develop improvement strategies. However, the current research has focused predominantly on census tracts or grids, overlooking the community level, thus hindering the implementation of targeted policies to enhance resilience across diverse communities. To address this, we leveraged high-resolution data to assess heat vulnerability at the community level in central Guangzhou. We identified 1788 communities and classified them into four types: commercial housing communities, traditional neighbourhoods, work-unit compounds, and urban villages. The heat vulnerability index was calculated and analysed to highlight their key characteristics and differences, and improvement frameworks tailored to each community's management characteristics were developed. Urban villages exhibited the greatest heat vulnerability, with >50 % of these communities at vulnerability levels 4–5, characterised by high exposure and sensitivity and low adaptive capacity, necessitating improvements in green spaces and cooling facilities. In contrast, traditional neighbourhoods exhibited the lowest heat vulnerability, with only 11.8 % at levels 4–5, owing to better access to cooling facilities. Commercial housing communities and work-unit compounds exhibited similar vulnerabilities. Based on the management process of each community type, this study proposed distinct frameworks for enhancing resilience. These frameworks suggest substantial environmental upgrades for urban villages managed by local government, with tailored measures for other community types. The heat vulnerability maps and improvement frameworks presented here will provide scientific guidance for urban heat management and contribute to healthier urban environments.