People in Melbourne’s poorest suburbs feel the heat more intensely than those in more affluent areas, largely due to urban heat islands created by badly designed buildings, roads and footpaths.
Temperatures can vary as much as six degrees across different parts of Melbourne as a result of ‘heat islands’ where buildings, roads and footpaths amplify heat while trees and water cool down surrounding areas.
One of the biggest indicators for heat vulnerability is the suburb where people live and the type of home they live in. “They are looking at treeless streets, they’re looking at lots of dark surfaces, they’re looking at new developments that aren’t preserving any sort of cool corridors.” The couple dreads the arrival of hot weather because their rented home, which is slated for demolition, has poor insulation and no proper air-conditioning.“It can be like an oven, even with the fans on and a tiny portable air-conditioner,” Chubb said. “Both my wife and I have chronic lung disease and it seems to be affecting breathing for us. The heat has affected my wife so badly she has been in and out of hospital 15 times since Christmas.
City of Melbourne is among the councils working to address increasing temperatures and the impact of heat islands. Last year, it appointed Australia’s first heat officers, Tiffany Crawford and Krista Milne. “We also know that those in social housing and people experiencing income stress may be having to make difficult choices about cooling their homes. If they even have access to air-conditioning, which many people do not.”The City of Melbourne is planting 3000 trees each year to try to combat heat, with the ambition of reaching 27 per cent tree canopy cover by 2025. From June, it will trial planting trees on top of tram shelters in the CBD.
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