The project entitled ‘The Effect of heatwaves on vulnerable population groups in The Hague’ collected data through surveys, Focus Group Discussions and interviews to map the needs of independently living seniors in order to adapt to heatwaves, the sustainable (frugal) solutions that exist, and the actions that the municipality could take to address these needs and thereby contribute to urban resilience.
The data consisted of 164 completed surveys: 92 in Loosduinen, and 72 in Schilderswijk and Transvaal (44 and 28 respectively), as well as three Focus Group Discussions and 23 interviews with representatives of the target population, experts in the field of public health, heat, and resilience, policymakers, advisors, entrepreneurs that offer innovative solutions for use during a heatwave, healthcare workers, and housing corporations. Desk research as well as an online validation workshop helped to contextualise and verify the findings. Research limitations included limited access to the target population due to data protection rules, selection bias, institutional barriers, the lack of an extreme heat event in the summer of 2021, and restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We found that over 80% of respondents were concerned about the cost of cooling and how they can cool themselves. Three solutions –sunscreens, air conditioning, roof insulation or having a green roof - are highly ranked as options that the respondents would like to implement in their (communal) living space but they face high costs and institutional barriers. The study also highlighted the role of (in)formal networks and housing corporations in reducing their vulnerability. The main policy recommendations directed at the municipality of The Hague centre around how to create ownership of heat as an urban resilience problem that cuts across several policy domains, and how to further develop its Local Heat Plan.
The research was funded by the municipality of The Hague and implemented as a cooperation between (and with co-funding from) the Centre of Expertise Global Governance, the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS, Erasmus University Rotterdam) and the International Centre for Frugal Innovation (ICFI, Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities). It was implemented between March 1st and December 31st, 2021.
