138 A map of neighborhood vulnerability shows where cooling centers will help the most people. concrete and asphalt characteristics of a heat island. Its location apart from downtown makes it a more surprising hot spot. Detecting even subtle shifts in local conditions is valuable for planners, Terry-Cobo said. “Being able to really capture how humans feel heat on the ground, that shows us the disparities and the differences between neighborhoods,” she said. “That was something that really hadn’t been done before [in Oklahoma City].” Collaboration Is the Key to Saving Lives With just two staff members, the city’s sustainability team relies on partnerships to move the city toward its goals, including resilience to weather change. The city’s hub site is a resource that can guide partners as they work to reach at-risk households. For example, electric companies can use the hub site’s data to identify households that might be eligible for credits or discounts during summer months. With lower monthly utility bills, more of the most vulnerable residents might choose to turn on their air conditioners to lower their risk of heat illness. Public transit planners might use heat maps in choosing locations for shaded bus stops or planting shade trees. Heat maps might even surface as the city considers a plan to build America’s tallest building on a four-acre parking lot downtown. As urban planners look to the future, allocation of resources will be important. Heat maps can help urban planners identify gaps in services or infrastructure. “Spatial analysis is crucial to that long-range planning work that we do in the planning department, but also in sustainability,” Terry-Cobo said. “It helps us identify those trends and the patterns. It helps us prioritize where we work in terms of location, geography, but also what we work on.”
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