Southasiadisters.net, Issue No. 220
Cities across South Asia face an urgent crisis: extreme urban heat. The latest issue of Southasiadisasters.net, titled “Urgency of Urban Heat Adaptation,” offers leading research, field experiences, and policy innovations from across the region to better tackle this growing threat.
From Nature-Based Solutions and cool roofing to heat action plans and early warning systems, this issue highlights practical, scalable, and inclusive strategies to protect vulnerable populations to build heat-resilient cities.
Featuring contributions from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and beyond, the issue explores how governments, communities, and institutions are responding to heat risks through collaborative planning, innovative technologies, public awareness campaigns, and evidence-based policy implementation.
In this issue:
- Passive Cooling for Extreme Heat Adaptation and Mitigation, Minni Shastry, UNEP, India
- Urban Heat Islands: Strategies for Mitigating the Effects in India, Mihir R. Bhatt, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), India
- शहरी तप्त द्वीप: भारत में प्रभावों को कम करने की रणनीतियां
- UNDRR Agenda for Cool Cities, Sanjaya Bhatia, Head of Office Incheon, UNDRR, Republic of Korea
- What Can Indian Cities Learn from Action in 2025 from a New Study on Residential Heat and Energy Burdens in Miami?, Vishal Pathak, AIDMI, India
- Strengthening Community Resilience: A Heatwave Early Warning and Early Action System for Nepal Amidst Urban Heat Islands, Dharam Raj Uprety, Thematic Lead: Climate and Resilience, Practical Action, Nepal
- Urban Heat Adaptation: Areas for Investments and Funding, Owen Gow, Deputy Director, Extreme Heat Initiative, Atlantic Council's Climate Resilience Center, Washington, DC
- Urban Heat Adaptation in Bangladesh, Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Senior Environmental & Social Safeguard Specialist, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Leveraging Historical Disaster Data to Enhance Anticipatory Action and Crisis Responses on Extreme Heat in India, Akash Yadav, AIDMI, India
- Urban Heat Adaptation: Agenda for Action in India, Dr. Nipra Ajamani and Dr. Prasoon Singh, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India
- Urban Heat Island: Strategies for Mitigating the Effects in India, Aniket Sawargaonkar, M.Sc., Disaster Management, TISS, India
- The Urgent Need for Urban Heat Adaptation in India, Shyamji, Master’s in Disaster Management, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India
- Urgently Integrating GESI Methodology into India’s Urban Heat Action Plans, AIDMI Team, India
- Heatwave in Mali: Impact on Elderly Mortality in Bamako, Dr. Hippolyte Traoré, Public Health Researcher, National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Mali
- Heatwave Action Plan - Adaptation and Mitigation, Dr. Shashi Ram, Former Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, Telangana, India
- Urgency of Urban Heat Adaptation in South Asia: Lessons from Bangladesh, Michael Slingsby, Urban Poverty and Climate Change Adviser, South and South East Asia
Resource collections
- ADRRN Knowledge Hub
- Climate emergency
- Heatwaves
- Learning from crises (Natural hazards)
- Locally led humanitarian action
- UN Habitat - Urban Response Collection
- Urban Response - Urban Crisis Preparedness and Risk Reduction
- Urban Response Collection - Community Engagement and Social Cohesion
- Urban Response Collection - Economic Recovery
- Urban Response Collection - Environment and Climate Change
- Urban Response Collection - Housing, Land and Property
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Crisis Response, Recovery and Reconstruction
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Resilience