IMBRACE researchers Panagiota Kotsila and Amalia Calderón-Argelich contributed to this richly layered StoryMap on climate vulnerability, urban heat, and justice in Barcelona, by science communicator Matteo Salvini. Published in Spanish.
What does a heatwave actually feel like when your flat has no insulation, your neighbourhood has no shade, and the library where you used to take refuge is on strike? Drawing on interviews with researchers from ISGlobal, ICTA-UAB, and BCNUEJ, the report explores three overlapping dimensions of heat vulnerability: the built environment, socioeconomic inequality, and public policy. It looks at how Barcelona’s urban heat island disproportionately kills women, how undocumented workers die in the fields with no legal protection, and how well-intentioned cooling measures can end up displacing the communities they set out to protect, a process the report calls thermal gentrification.
Essential reading for anyone working at the intersection of climate, health, and urban justice. Read the full report here.
