The city of Santos, on the São Paulo coast, tops the rankings for the highest number of heat islands, according to data from UrbVerde, a socio-environmental monitoring platform run by researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP).
Heat islands are regions within cities where temperatures are higher than their surroundings, due to a high concentration of buildings and a lack of trees. Santos has the worst index according to the ranking, with a value of 83.3 out of 100.
Verticalization
In the case of the town of Baixada Santista, the phenomenon is due to verticalization, because the tall buildings create a sort of blockage of the sea breeze.
According to the 2022 census of the Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Santos is the Brazilian city with the highest number of apartments compared to other types of housing. In total, the municipality has 67.1% of housing in apartments (112,401 housing units).
Thermal intensity
The platform’s calculation is done by multiplying the vulnerable population, made up of elderly people and children, and the thermal intensity factor, which corresponds to the temperature difference in the different regions of a municipality.
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Still according to UrbVerde’s assessment, those most affected by heat islands in Santos are blacks and indigenous people, who correspond to 30% of the total population living in the most affected regions.
The platform also indicates that certain measures can be taken to reduce the phenomenon and make cities considered cooler. Among them are the planting of trees, the naturalization of rivers and lakes and the promotion of public policies in favor of green spaces.
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