Cooling Down the City

Cities are heating up. Rising temperatures, frequent heatwaves and dense urban development are making neighbourhoods increasingly vulnerable to heat stress, with serious consequences for residents’ health, well-being and social equity. Cooling Down the City addresses this challenge by developing a Coadaptation Method for heat-resilient neighbourhoods, rooted in deep collaboration between residents, researchers and urban professionals.

The project focuses on newly built neighbourhoods, where energy-efficient housing and limited space for green and blue infrastructure often lead to overheating. Heat stress affects residents unevenly: tenants, people with lower incomes and those with limited agency are often least able to adapt. By combining urban design, public health, social sciences and citizen science, this project aims to prevent heat-related inequalities while strengthening climate resilience.

Living case study

The Cartesius neighbourhood in Utrecht serves as a living case study. Here, residents already experience significant heat stress and have expressed a strong willingness to actively engage in research and solution-building. At the same time, key professional stakeholders—developers, investors, housing corporations, policymakers and knowledge institutions—are united through the Bouwen aan een Gezonde Wijk covenant, creating a unique foundation for transdisciplinary co-creation.

How can residents, researchers and urban professionals jointly develop socially just, scalable solutions for heat-resilient neighbourhoods?

Outcomes of the Incubator phase

During the Incubator phase, the team built a strong interdisciplinary foundation and established key collaborations. Activities included a literature review, pilot interviews with residents, initial sensor-based measurements, and alignment with covenant partners. Key insights revealed how heat stress directly and indirectly affects well-being, social cohesion and feelings of safety, and how residents see data as a powerful tool to influence urban development decisions.

These insights confirmed the urgency of the challenge and the need for a fully transdisciplinary, action-oriented approach. The Signature Project builds directly on this groundwork by deepening stakeholder interaction, scaling up data collection and moving from analysis to co-created action.

Next steps of the project

The project will run from 2025 to 2027 and includes:

  • Scaling up citizen science data collection on heat stress and well-being
  • Longitudinal analysis linking design choices, behaviour and health outcomes
  • Co-creation of actionable heat mitigation strategies
  • Implementation of at least one collective heat mitigation action at building or neighbourhood level
  • National dissemination through professional networks, public-private partnerships and PtS communities

Non-UU partners

  • Teije Terhorst - Waag Futurelab
  • Covenant ‘Bouwen aan een Gezonde Wijk’ – consortium partners
    MRP; Ballast Nedam Development; UMC Utrecht; Utrecht University; HU Utrecht; Municipality of Utrecht; Portaal; Achmea Real Estate; CBRE Investment Management; NS Stations